Widely Tunable Single-Mode Interband Cascade Lasers

非技术描述：具有宽可调发射波长的半导体红外激光器在环境和化学战监测、管道泄漏和爆炸物检测、食品安全、医疗诊断和工业过程控制等广泛的应用中是非常需要的。该项目将新颖的光学结构和定制的半导体材料相结合，以展示和开发急需的半导体激光器。该项目的目标还包括在调整注入电流以调整波长时，促进对红外光如何与新的光学结构相互作用的理解和知识。该项目为俄克拉荷马大学的研究生和本科生提供了在多学科主题(材料科学、量子工程、光子学和器件制造)方面进行教育、培训和研究的独特机会。该项目还加强了俄克拉荷马州的科学和技术发展基础设施，并增加了来自代表性不足群体的学生的机会。技术说明：许多应用需要可广泛调谐的单模中红外半导体激光器，能够在室温下以低功耗连续工作。通过对一种新型的半波V耦合腔进行单片集成，所提出的带间级联激光器将具有高边模抑制比(30d B)的单模发射，而不需要传统的分布反馈光栅。这种配置还使激光器能够具有宽调谐范围(30 Nm)。此外，通过对波导结构的创新，这些激光器将增强光学限制，改善热耗散，并减少应变积累。这些可广泛调谐的单模中红外激光器将极大地有益于许多有用的应用，特别是在中红外系统必须使用电池操作并且能源成本/可用性令人担忧的情况下，包括对尺寸和电力有严格限制的空间应用。这些激光器的问世将极大地提高中红外激光仪器的性能及其在许多领域的应用。这个项目不仅增进了对光学科学的理解和知识，还在量子工程结构的设计方面产生了新的知识，并扩大了它们的应用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-Technical Description: Semiconductor infrared lasers with widely tunable emission wavelength are critically needed for a wide range of applications such as environmental and chemical-warfare monitoring, detection of pipe leaks and explosives, food safety, medical diagnostics, and industrial process control. This project combines novel optical structures and customized semiconductor materials to demonstrate and develop the much-needed semiconductor lasers. The objectives of the project also include advancement in the understanding and knowledge of how infrared light interacts with the new optical structures as the injecting current is adjusted to tune the wavelength. The project offers graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Oklahoma unique opportunities to pursue education, training and research in multidisciplinary topics (materials science, quantum engineering, photonics, and device fabrication). This project also enhances Oklahoma's infrastructure for science and technology development and increases the opportunities of students from under-represented groups. Technical Description: Many applications require widely tunable single-mode mid-infrared semiconductor lasers that can operate continuously with low power consumption at room temperature. By monolithically integrating a novel half-wave V-coupled cavity, the proposed interband cascade lasers will have a single-mode emission with a high side-mode suppression ratio (30 dB) without conventional distributed feedback gratings. This configuration also enables the lasers to have a wide tuning range ( 30 nm). Additionally, through innovation of the waveguide structure, these lasers will have enhanced optical confinement, improved thermal dissipation, and reduced strain accumulation. These widely tunable single-mode mid-infrared lasers will significantly benefit many useful applications, especially where mid-infrared systems must be operated with batteries and energy cost/availability is a concern, including space applications with strict constraints on size and electric power. The availability of these lasers will greatly enhance the capabilities of mid-infrared laser instruments and their applications in many areas. This project not only advances the understanding and knowledge of optical science, it also generates new knowledge in the design of quantum-engineered structures and broadens their applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.