Abstract

A room-temperature resonant-cavity light source emitting at $3.327 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ is presented. It combines a CdHgTe light-emitting layer, grown by molecular beam epitaxy, and two evaporated ${\mathrm{YF}}_3–\mathrm{ZnS}$ Bragg mirrors. The emitter is optically pumped by a commercial low-power GaAs laser diode. Compared with an unprocessed sample, this microcavity device shows a drastic (10-fold) linewidth reduction, a 3.3-fold intensity increase at $3.327 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$, and a 2.4-fold angular-spread decrease. The emitted optical power is $15 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{W}$, and the device is used as a light source in a basic gas-detection setup. Measurements of a butane–propane mixture in the 1 to $5\times {10}^{-3}$ bar range with a 5-cm-long single-path gas cell are demonstrated.

© 2000 Optical Society of America

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