Thermal Modeling, Design, and Testing of Epi-Side-Up-Mounted Interband Cascade Lasers

"In this Phase I program, we will assess the feasibility and merits of a new method/design for fabricating epi-side-up-mounted type-II interband cascade (IC) lasers. These mid-IR IC lasers, based on cascaded type-II InAs/Ga(In)Sb/AlSb quantum wells, haverecently demonstrated pulsed operation at 300K, but cw operation has been severely limited by heat accumulation in the device active regions. The new method is intended to conduct heat more efficiently from the active region to the heat sink than occurs inpresent designs. A thermal model of the device/heat sink will be developed and used to guide and refine the modified designs and experimental work so that the objective of cw operation at high temperatures (T>220K) is achieved. We will also assess themanufacturing process flow for IC lasers, identifying the various steps in their commercial manufacture. The costs will be estimated, and the viability of high-volume production of IC SDLs will be assessed. A solution to this problem would have afar-reaching impact. IC lasers fabricated using standard techniques have much in common with the fabrication of near-IR III-V semiconductor diode laser products. Room temperature or thermoelectrically cooled, cw, mid-IR IC lasers that are mountedepi-side-up would be cost-effective to manufacture, and their relatively low per-device cost would motivate product development in several areas. These include sources for free-space communications (for bo