Large Area Surface-Emitting Photonic Crystal Quantum Cascade Laser

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are the sources of choice for many laser-based applications in the mid-infrared region. Because of the unique 2D in-plane coupling mechanism, a photonic crystal (PhC)-QCL [1] has superior advantages on mode selection, surface emission, and beam control. In this work, we present a large-area (1.5 mm × 1.5 mm) PhC-QCL operating under pulsed mode at room temperature (289 K). The surface-emitting peak power is as high as 1 W.