Optically and electrically pumped infrared lasers based on intersubband transitions in InAs/GaSb/AlAsSb quantum wells are modeled in detail. The large conduction-band offset of the AlAsSb barriers with respect to the InAs wells allows the lasing wavelength to be shortened to at least 1.9 &mgr;m. Furthermore, the small InAs electron mass results in longer phonon-limited lifetimes in the upper lasing subband as well as larger dipole matrix elements. This leads to the prediction of lower threshold currents, and hence, higher cw operating temperatures than for quantum cascade lasers based on the InGaAs/InAlAs/InP system. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.