Quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) are semiconductor-injection lasers based on intersubband transitions in a multiple-quantum-well heterostructure. They are designed using band-structure engineering and grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The emission wavelength of a QCL is primarily a function of quantum-well thickness--thinner quantum wells lead to shorter wavelengths--and is essentially independent of the material bandgap. Quantum-cascade lasers can be designed to operate at any wavelength from 3.5 ï?m (infrared) to 67 ï?m (terahertz region) and are continuously tunable through ranges of a few inverse centimeters.1, 2, 3 This capability makes them well suited for spectroscopy in the infrared (see Laser Focus World, August 1999, p. 40).