Ultra-broadband semiconductor laser

The fundamental mechanism behind laser action leads in general only to narrowband, single-wavelength emission. Several approaches for achieving spectrally broadband laser action have been put forward, such as enhancing the optical feedback in the wings of the gain spectrum1,2, multi-peaked gain spectra3,4, and the most favoured technique at present, ultrashort pulse excitation5,6. Each of these approaches has drawbacks, such as a complex external laser cavity configuration, a non-flat optical gain envelope function, or an inability to operate in continuous mode, respectively. Here we present a monolithic, mid-infrared ‘supercontinuum’ semiconductor laser that has none of these drawbacks. We adopt a quantum cascade7,8 configuration, where a number of dissimilar intersubband optical transitions are made to cooperate in order to provide broadband optical gain from 5 to 8 µm wavelength. Laser action with a Fabry–Pérot spectrum covering all wavelengths from 6 to 8 µm simultaneously is demonstrated with this approach. Lasers that emit light over such an extremely wide wavelength range are of interest for applications as varied as terabit optical data communications9 or ultra-precision metrology10 and spectroscopy11.