InAs-Based Interband Cascade Laser Operating at 5.17 μm in Continuous Wave Above Room Temperature

We report an InAs-based interband cascade laser emitting at
$\lambda $
=
$5.17\mu \text{m}$
in continuous wave mode up to a maximum temperature of 41 °C, that increases the maximum continuous wave operating temperature by 66 °C for InAs-based interband cascade lasers emitting around
$5.2~\mu \text{m}$
. At
$T$
= 20 °C, an output power of 10 mW was achieved for a 10-
$\mu \text{m}\times 2$
-mm ridge waveguide device with one facet coated for high reflection and epitaxial-side-down mounting. The broad-area device processed from the same laser wafer exhibited a pulsed threshold current density as low as 306 A/cm2 at room temperature, the lowest ever reported for semiconductor lasers emitting at similar wavelengths.