High-power thermoelectrically-cooled and uncooled mid-wave infrared quantum cascade lasers

High-performance, room-temperature quantum cascade lasers emitting at a wavelength of 4.6 µm are reported. 7-mm-long chips with optimized-reflectivity facet coatings produced a continuous-wave output power of 2.9 W at 293 K for thermoelectrically cooled devices mounted on AlN submounts and a continuous-wave output power in excess of 1 W for uncooled devices.