Research Progress and Market Development Prospect of Mid-Infrared Interband Cascade Lasers

doi:10.16553/j.cnki.issn1000-985x.2026.0018

Abstract

Abstract: Mid-infrared band covers two important atmospheric windows and is also the absorption fingerprint area of numerous gas molecules， making it highly valuable in diverse applications， including gas detection， environmental monitoring， industrial control， medical diagnostics， infrared countermeasures， etc. Mid-infrared interband cascade lasers （ICLs） are a class of semiconductor lasers operating in the mid-infrared band. They have the advantages of low power consumption and high efficiency. They are suitable for various application scenarios such as portable gas detection， and have gradually become competitive mid-infrared light sources. Currently， the global ICLs market is predominantly controlled by foreign corporations， while the domestic ICLs industry is still in its early stage. Therefore， it is of great significance for China to promote the development of ICLs by clarifying the market application prospect， industrial development path and technology application direction. This paper outlines the major application scenarios of ICLs， reviews the development history of ICLs， and research progress of GaSb?based， InAs?based ICLs， and ICLs heterogeneous integration in recent years is reviewed in detail. On this basis， the market prospects and challenges are analyzed， and the development of ICLs in China is prospected.

Key words: mid-infrared; interband cascade laser; laser technology; gas detection; infrared countermeasure

CLC Number:

TN248

ZHU Shihao, NIU Ruirui, XIE Jinglong, ZHANG Chuyi, ZHANG Shiyu, SUN Yu, LU Hong. Research Progress and Market Development Prospect of Mid-Infrared Interband Cascade Lasers[J]. Journal of Synthetic Crystals, 2026, 55(9): 1377-1388.

Figures/Tables 8

References 64

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Molecule	MIR wavelength/μm	Line intensity/（cm^-1/（molecule·cm^-2））	NIR wavelength/μm	Line intensity/（cm^-1/（molecule·cm^-2））	Line strength ratio （MIR versus NIR）
CO	~4.60	~10^-19	~2.33	~10^-21	~100
CO₂	~4.23	~10^-18	~2.00	~10^-21	~1 000
CH₄	~3.27	~10^-19	~1.65	~10^-21	~100
H₂O	~5.94	~10^-19	~1.39	~10^-20	~10
SO₂	~7.29	~10^-19	—	—	—
NO	~5.26	~10^-20	~1.80	~10^-23	~1 000

Molecule	MIR wavelength/μm	Line intensity/（cm^-1/（molecule·cm^-2））	NIR wavelength/μm	Line intensity/（cm^-1/（molecule·cm^-2））	Line strength ratio （MIR versus NIR）
CO	~4.60	~10^-19	~2.33	~10^-21	~100
CO₂	~4.23	~10^-18	~2.00	~10^-21	~1 000
CH₄	~3.27	~10^-19	~1.65	~10^-21	~100
H₂O	~5.94	~10^-19	~1.39	~10^-20	~10
SO₂	~7.29	~10^-19	—	—	—
NO	~5.26	~10^-20	~1.80	~10^-23	~1 000

Industry	Security	Defense	Environment	Healthcare	Transport
Process control	Explosives	Infrared countermeasure	Continuous emission	Blood/proteins	Engine design
Exploration	Harmful material	Infrared countermeasure	Greenhouse	Breath	Fuels
Surveillance	Bio/chemical agents	Infrared countermeasure	Gas/indoor air monitoring	Life science	Vehicle emissions monitoring （VEM）

Industry	Security	Defense	Environment	Healthcare	Transport
Process control	Explosives	Infrared countermeasure	Continuous emission	Blood/proteins	Engine design
Exploration	Harmful material	Infrared countermeasure	Greenhouse	Breath	Fuels
Surveillance	Bio/chemical agents	Infrared countermeasure	Gas/indoor air monitoring	Life science	Vehicle emissions monitoring （VEM）

Year	Institution/key contributor	Key achievement	Performance
1994^［21］	Yang	Concept proposed
1997^［22］	UH & Sandia	First ICL demonstrated	170 K
1997^［23］	UH	Quantum efficiency（> 100%）
1997^［24］	NRL & UH	“W” type-Ⅱ QW
2002^{［25⁃26］}	Yang	First room temperature （RT） ICL （pulsed mode）	3.5 μm； >6 kA/cm²
2003—2004^{［27⁃28］}	JPL		RT pulsed： 1 kA/cm²； CW： 200 K
2008^［29］	NRL	First RT CW lasing	319 K； 400 A/cm² at RT
2009^［34］	OU	First InAs based ICL
2010^［30］	Würzburg University	Shortened injector region
2011^［10］	NRL	Rebalancing internally generated carriers
2012^［12］	NASA	ICL space application	Detected 0.41 ppb methane
2013^{［31⁃32］}	Würzburg University	Cascade period optimization & new waveguide	98 A/cm² at RT； AlGaAsSb waveguide