3~4 μm波段中红外激光器在工业气体检测、医学医疗和自由空间光通信等诸多领域具有十分重要的应用。目前锑化物半导体带间级联激光器是实现中红外3~4 μm波段的理想方案。带间级联激光器(Interband Cascade Laser,ICL)可以看做是通过电子和空穴复合产生光子的传统二极管激光器以及通过引入多个级联区来提高电子注入效率的子带间量子级联激光器(Quantum Cascade Laser,QCL)的融合。文中概要介绍了带间级联激光器的基本工作原理, 阐述了国际上主要研究单位包括俄克拉荷马大学、美国海军实验室、德国伍兹堡大学等带间级联激光器的发展历史, 介绍了国内单位包括中国科学院半导体所研制成功带间级联激光器的性能, 分析了该类激光器设计制备技术难点和及性能进一步提升优化的技术方案。

The mid-infrared lasers of 3-4 μm can be widely used in industrial gas detection, medical treatment and free space optical communication. At present, the antimonide semiconductor interband cascade laser is an ideal scheme for realizing 3-4 μm in the middle infrared band. The interband cascade laser(ICL) may be considered the hybrid of a conventional diode laser that generates photons via electron-hole recombination, and an intersubband-based quantum cascade laser(QCL) that stacks multiple stages for enhanced current efficiency. This paper gives an overview of the basic working principle of inter-band cascade lasers, and describes the development history of major inter-band cascade lasers, including the University of Oklahoma, the US Naval Laboratory, and the University of Woodsburg. The performance of the interband cascade laser developed by the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is also included. By analyzing the difficulties in designing and preparing the laser, the technical solution to further improve the performance of this kind of lasers is expounded.