Process to Mitigate Catastrophic Optical Damage to Quantum Cascade Lasers

The program will be dedicated to a systematic study on QCL optical damage, long term reliability, and increase in damage threshold for high power QCLs. At the end of Phase II, we will have developed and fully validated an instantaneous QCL COD model and a model for QCL long-term degradation under full driving conditions. The two models covering a broad spectral region will provide a scientific basis for instantaneous laser damage and long-term laser degradation under high power operational conditions. This, in turn, will allow us to develop improved QCL fabrication recipes increasing damage threshold and, therefore, increasing optical power for state-of-the-art BH QCLs. The two models will also help us define rules for choosing an operational setpoint for a specific laser configuration that ensures long-term reliability for a given device.