Electrically pumped all photonic crystal 2nd order DFB lasers arrays emitting at 2.3 μm

Abstract

Single-mode, widely tunable laser diodes in the mid-infrared range are highly interesting for demanding spectroscopic applications involving multi-species discrimination. We report on an alternative approach using single frequency laser arrays. Single-mode laser arrays were fabricated using all-photonic-crystal electrically pumped distributed feedback cavities on GaSb. The fabricated lasers exhibit thresholds in the 3.2 kA/cm2 range in a continuous wave regime at room temperature. The maximum output power reaches 1 mW and single mode operation with a side-mode suppression ratio of 30 dB is demonstrated. These lasers were used to perform tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy of several gases in standard gas cells. Continuous spectral coverage of a 40 nm band using 10 lasers seems an achievable goal using laser arrays with PhC lattice constant variations of 1 nm from laser to laser.