Wall plug efficiency

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

(4.2.8)\[\begin{equation} \eta_{\mathrm{WPE}}^{\mathrm{internal}} = \frac{P_{\mathrm{stimulated emission}} - P_\mathrm{absorption}}{UI}, \end{equation}\]

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

(4.2.9)\[\begin{equation} \eta_\mathrm{WPE}^\mathrm{external} = \eta_\mathrm{WPE}^\mathrm{internal} \frac{\alpha_\mathrm{fm}}{\alpha_\mathrm{cavity}}, \end{equation}\]

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

(4.2.10)\[\alpha_\mathrm{cavity} = \alpha_\mathrm{fm} + \alpha_\mathrm{bm} + \alpha_\mathrm{waveguide},\]

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.