INTERBAND CASCADE LASERS AND RELATED OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES

Interband cascade (IC) lasers (ICLs) take advantage of the broken bandgap alignment in type-II InAs/Ga(In)Sb heterostructures to reuse injected electrons in cascade stages for photon generation with high quantum efficiency based on interband transitions [1].  Significant progress has been achieved in the development of high-performance ICLs with low power consumption [2-3], which includes successful operation of an ICL in Curiosity Rover on Mars for detection of CH₄ [4], demonstration of IC vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) above room temperature [5], and extension of lasing wavelength beyond 13 µm [6]. ICLs are now commercially available for many applications such as chemical sensing and environmental monitoring. Also, the IC architecture has been explored for other optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes [2], infrared photodetectors and photovoltaic cells [7-10].  Combination of interband transitions and fast carrier transport in IC structures provides more flexibilities and advantages to achieve high performance for photodetectors and photovoltaic cells. The unique features and prospects of ICLs and relevant optoelectronic devices will be reviewed and discussed with some recent experimental results

Professor Rui Q. Yang

Biography:

Dr. Yang received the B.Sc. degree in physics from Zhejiang University in 1982, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Nanjing University in 1984 and 1987, respectively.  He is the inventor of interband cascade lasers with research activities ranging from condensed matter physics to semiconductor quantum devices.  Prior to joining OU as a professor in 2007, he was a Principal Member of Engineering Staff and a Task Manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, where he led the development of advanced mid-IR ICLs for applications in Earth sciences and planetary explorations. He received the Edward Stone Award in 2007 from JPL for outstanding research publication and the successful accelerated infusion of cutting-edge IC semiconductor laser technology into flight mission readiness.  He is a Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA) and IEEE and the recipient of 2018 IEEE Photonics Society Aron Kressel Award. More information about his group can be found from http://QDL.ou.edu/.