Wang, Yangqian, Jia, Hui, Park, Jae-Seong, Zeng, Haotian, Marko, Igor P., Bentley, Matthew, Hajraoui, Khalil El, Liu, Shangfeng, Yang, Bo, Dear, Calum, Bai, Mengxun, Deng, Huiwen, Chen, Chong, Yuan, Jiajing, Li, Jun, Liu, Kongming, Duffy, Dominic A., Yan, Zhao, Wang, Zihao, Sweeney, Stephen J., Zhuang, Qiandong, Ramasse, Quentin M., Chen, Siming, Tang, Mingchu, Li, Qiang  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5257-7704, Seeds, Alwyn and Liu, Huiyun
2026.
Mid-infrared InAs/InP quantum-dot lasers.
Light: Science & Applications
15
(1)
, 64.
10.1038/s41377-025-02167-4
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Abstract
Mid-infrared semiconductor lasers operating in the 2.0–5.0 μm spectral range play an important role for various applications, including trace-gas detection, biomedical analysis, and free-space optical communication. InP-based quantum-well (QW) and quantum-dash (Qdash) lasers are promising alternatives to conventional GaSb-based QW lasers because of their lower cost and mature fabrication infrastructure. However, they suffer from high threshold current density (Jth) and limited operation temperatures. InAs/InP quantum-dot (QD) lasers theoretically offer lower Jth owing to their three-dimensional carrier confinement. Nevertheless, achieving high-density, uniform InAs/InP QDs with sufficient gain for lasing over 2 μm remains a major challenge. Here, we report the first demonstration of mid-infrared InAs/InP QD lasers emitting beyond 2 μm. Five-stack InAs/In0.532Ga0.468As/InP QDs grown by molecular-beam epitaxy exhibit room-temperature photoluminescence at 2.04 μm. Edge-emitting lasers achieve lasing at 2.018 μm with a low Jth of 589 A cm−2 and a maximum operation temperature of 50 °C. Notably, the Jth per layer (118 A cm−2) is the lowest ever reported for room-temperature InP-based mid-infrared lasers, outperforming QW/Qdash counterparts. These results pave the way for a new class of low-cost, high-performance mid-infrared light sources using InAs/InP QDs, marking a notable step forward in the development of mid-infrared semiconductor lasers.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Published Online |
| Status: | Published |
| Schools: | Schools > Physics and Astronomy |
| Publisher: | Springer Nature [academic journals on nature.com] |
| ISSN: | 2047-7538 |
| Funders: | EPSRC |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 14 January 2026 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 11 December 2025 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Jan 2026 02:30 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183896 |
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