Laser advance could open up new markets

Applied scientists from Harvard University have, for the first time, demonstrated high-power continuous wave (cw) room-temperature quantum cascade (QC) lasers made by a well-established mass production semiconductor synthesis technique. The breakthrough could soon lead to the large-scale commercialization of QC lasers and open up new markets for laser-based chemical sensors.

The new generation of QC lasers relies on a layer deposition technique known as Metallorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE), one of the most common and versatile methods for mass-producing technology for semiconductor lasers, circuits, and other photonics components for communications.

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