Wall plug efficiency

The internal wall plug efficiency (WPE) is calculated when Gain clamping occurs. It is defined as

(4.2.22)$${\eta }_{\mathrm{WPE}}^{\mathrm{internal}}=\frac{P_{\mathrm{stimulated}\mathrm{emission}}-P_{\mathrm{absorption}}}{UI},$$

where $U$ is — and $I$ is the current. If the front mirror losses (FrontMirrorLosses) are specified, the external WPE is output as

(4.2.23)$${\eta }_{\mathrm{WPE}}^{\mathrm{external}}={\eta }_{\mathrm{WPE}}^{\mathrm{internal}}\frac{{\alpha }_{\mathrm{fm}}}{{\alpha }_{\mathrm{cavity}}},$$

where ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{fm}}$ is the front mirror losses.

Note

The cavity losses (${\alpha }_{\mathrm{cavity}}$, CavityLosses) is related to the front mirror losses via

(4.2.24)$${\alpha }_{\mathrm{cavity}}={\alpha }_{\mathrm{fm}}+{\alpha }_{\mathrm{bm}}+{\alpha }_{\mathrm{waveguide}},$$

where ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{bm}}$ and ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{waveguide}}$ are the losses due to the back mirror and waveguide, respectively.

Note

Please check out an example of mid-infrared QCL results in Overview.

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Last update: 08/01/2025