Applications In Nanolasers Research Articles

Engineering the Electrostatic Interactions between Oppositely Charged Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticles for Constructing Colloid Molecules on Substrates.

Arrays of nanoparticle (NP) clusters with controlled architectures show broad applications in nanolasers, sensors, and photocatalysis, but the fabrication of these arrays on substrates remains a grand challenge. This review presents a highly effective polymer-based strategy for the process-directed self-assembly of binary polyelectrolyte-grafted NPs (PGNPs) bearing opposite charges into stable colloidal molecules (CMs) on substrates via electrostatic interactions. The coordination number (x) of ABx CMs can be tuned by adjusting the pH or ionic strength of the solution or by employing different combinations of PGNPs with varying charge densities. Large-area CMs with diverse structures ranging from AB to AB7 can be constructed on substrates in high yields. This approach is applicable to PGNPs with different cores of NPs. This assembly strategy offers a useful tool for the fabrication of structurally precise assemblies on substrates with broad applications.

Few-emitter lasing in single ultra-small nanocavities.

Lasers are ubiquitous for information storage, processing, communications, sensing, biological research and medical applications. To decrease their energy and materials usage, a key quest is to miniaturise lasers down to nanocavities. Obtaining the smallest mode volumes demands plasmonic nanocavities, but for these, gain comes from only a single or few emitters. Until now, lasing in such devices was unobtainable due to low gain and high cavity losses. Here, we demonstrate a form of 'few emitter lasing' in a plasmonic nanocavity approaching the single-molecule emitter regime. The few-emitter lasing transition significantly broadens, and depends on the number of molecules and their individual locations. We show this non-standard few-emitter lasing can be understood by developing a theoretical approach extending previous weak-coupling theories. Our work paves the way for developing nanolaser applications as well as fundamental studies at the limit of few emitters.

Near-perfect quantitatively tunable Q factors of quasi-bound states in the continuum via material-based thermal-optic perturbations.

We successfully achieved high-Q dual-band quasi-bound states in the continuum (BICs) by introducing geometrical perturbations and thermally induced material perturbations into silicon half-disk nanodimers. Importantly, it is found that the Q factor obtained from the thermally induced material perturbations fits better with the inverse quadratic function of the asymmetry relation than that of the geometrical-perturbations-based system. Notably, we demonstrated that changes occurring at the sub-K scale can enable the simultaneous realization of the full width at half maximum offset distance for quasi-BICs and a maximum contrast ratio exceeding 44 dB. Our research provides novel, to the best of our knowledge, insights for potential applications in nano-lasers, temperature sensors, and infrared imaging.

Room Temperature Lasing from Semiconducting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

Miniaturized near-infrared semiconductor lasers that are able to generate coherent light with low energy consumption have widespread applications in fields such as optical interconnects, neuromorphic computing, and deep-tissue optogenetics. With optical transitions at near-infrared wavelengths, diameter-tunable electronic structures, and superlative optoelectronic properties, semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are promising candidates for nanolaser applications. However, despite significant efforts in this direction and recent progress toward enhancing spontaneous emission from SWCNTs through Purcell effects, SWCNT-based excitonic lasers have not yet been demonstrated. Leveraging an optimized cavity-emitter integration scheme enabled by a self-assembly process, here we couple SWCNT emission to the whispering gallery modes supported by polymer microspheres, resulting in room temperature excitonic lasing with an average lasing threshold of 4.5 kW/cm2. The high photostability of SWCNTs allows stable lasing for prolonged duration with minimal degradation. This experimental realization of excitonic lasing from SWCNTs, combined with their versatile electronic and optical properties that can be further controlled by chemical modification, offers far-reaching opportunities for tunable near-infrared nanolasers that are applicable for optical signal processing, in vivo biosensing, and optoelectronic devices.

Theoretical study of extremely narrow plasmonic surface lattice resonances observed by MIM nanogratings under normal incidence in asymmetric environments

Nanoarray structures can support plasmonic surface lattice resonances (SLRs) with extremely narrow linewidths and huge electric field enhancement features, which are attractive applications in nanolasers, biochemical sensors, and nonlinear optics. However, current nanoarray structures located in an asymmetric dielectric environment with a refractive index contrast of 1.00/1.52 of the superstrate/substrate excite much poorer SLRs under normal incidence, which largely limits their application range. In this work, we report extremely narrow SLRs supported by one-dimensional metal–insulator–metal nanograting in asymmetric dielectric environments. The simulation results show that an SLRs with linewidth of 3.26 nm and quality factor of 233.2 can be excited under normal incidence. This high-quality SLRs is attributed to the interference formation between the out-of-plane dipole resonance mode and the out-of-plane quadrupole resonance mode. We also show that the resonance wavelength and quality factor can be tuned by changing the structure geometry and period, and we calculate the normal incidence SLRs quality factor to be up to 248 in 1.33/1.52 and 250 in 1.45/1.52. We expect the SLRs of this work to find potential applications in asymmetric dielectric environments.

Significant Near-Field Enhancement over Large Volumes around Metal Nanorods via Strong Coupling of Surface Lattice Resonances and Fabry–Pérot Resonance

Metal nanoparticles supporting plasmons are widely used to enhance electromagnetic fields, resulting in strong light–matter interactions at the nanoscale in a diverse range of applications. Recently, it has been shown that when metal nanorods are periodically arranged with proper lattice periods, surface lattice resonances (SLRs) can be excited and near fields can be greatly enhanced over extended volumes. In this work, we report significant near field enhancement over even larger volumes by placing the metal nanorod array within a Fabry–Pérot (F-P) microcavity. Simulation results show that by taking advantage of strong coupling between the SLR and the photonic F-P resonances, the electric field intensity of the bonding split mode can be enhanced by up to 1935 times, which is about three times of the enhancement of the SLR, and the greatly enhanced field can extend over most of the F-P microcavity. We further show that the F-P resonances of both odd and even orders can strongly couple to the SLR by varying the nanorods position from the middle of the microcavity. We expect that the proposed plasmonic-photonic coupling system will find promising applications in nanolasers, nonlinear optics and sensing.

Necessary conditions for out-of-plane lattice plasmons in nanoparticle arrays

Out-of-plane lattice plasmons (OLPs) supported by metallic nanoparticle arrays are promising for diverse applications due to their remarkably narrow linewidths and significant enhancement of local fields. Here we investigate the necessary conditions for metallic nanoparticle arrays to achieve OLPs. Our results show that, besides the prerequisites of large height, oblique incidence, and TM polarization, which have been pointed out by the literature; the array period should be properly designed within a limited range, the dielectric environment should be homogeneous, and the height and the angle of incidence need to be optimized. We expect this work will advance the understanding and engineering of OLPs in metallic nanoparticle arrays and promote their applications in nanolasers, ultrasensitive biochemical sensors, and nonlinear optics.

Dynamics of the etching effects on the optoelectronic properties of ZnO nanorods

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a very promising material for optoelectronic applications thanks to its wide direct band gap (3.4 eV), and a high exciton binding energy (60 meV). ZnO based nanostructures are presently being explored for a wide range of applications in nanolasers, nanogenerators, gas sensors, light emitting diodes and solar cells. In this study, we report the preparation of ZnO nanorods and the dynamics of their chemical etching under different concentrations. Characterization was carried out using X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy and photoluminescence. Thus, the study provides an investigation of the etching time and concentration effects on the optoelectronic properties. We found that all etching conditions are causing a remarkable proportional changes on the materials photonics as it is mainly changing the surface and creating defects. Hence, this study exhibits distinct advantages for optoelectronic devices.

Trion-Species-Resolved Quantum Beats in MoSe2.

Monolayer photonic materials offer a tremendous potential for on-chip optoelectronic devices. Their realization requires knowledge of optical coherence properties of excitons and trions that have so far been limited to nonlinear optical experiments carried out with strongly inhomogeneously broadened material. Here we employ h-BN-encapsulated and electrically gated MoSe2 to reveal coherence properties of trion species directly in the linear optical response. Autocorrelation measurements reveal long dephasing times up to T2 = 1.16 ± 0.05 ps for positively charged excitons. Gate-dependent measurements provide evidence that the positively charged trion forms via spatially localized hole states, making this trion less prone to dephasing in the presence of elevated hole carrier concentrations. Quantum beat signatures demonstrate coherent coupling between excitons and trions that have a dephasing time up to 0.6 ps, a 2-fold increase over those in previous reports. A key merit of the prolonged exciton/trion coherences is that they were achieved in a linear optical experiment and thus are directly relevant to applications in nanolasers, coherent control, and on-chip quantum information processing requiring long photon coherence.

Deep-subwavelength hybrid plasmonic waveguide with metal-semiconductor ribs for nanolaser applications

We propose a novel hybrid plasmonic waveguide with metal-semiconductor ribs. We investigated the modal properties of the proposed structure and the threshold property for plasmonic nanolaser applications by using the finite element method. The results reveal that the structure enables deep-subwavelength mode confinement with low propagation loss and low threshold. By optimizing the geometric parameters of the structure, the mode area can reach 0.000 29λ2 with a threshold of 700.9/cm at the wavelength of 1.55 μm. Compared to the previously studied hybrid plasmonic waveguide, tighter mode confinement and lower propagation loss is simultaneously achieved for the structure with the same geometric parameters. The designed structure can be used as a low-threshold nanolaser and has promising potential for applications in active plasmonic systems and optoelectronic integrated circuits.

Single-Crystalline Aluminum Nanostructures on a Semiconducting GaAs Substrate for Ultraviolet to Near-Infrared Plasmonics.

Aluminum, as a metallic material for plasmonics, is of great interest because it extends the applications of surface plasmon resonance into the ultraviolet (UV) region and is superior to noble metals in natural abundance, cost, and compatibility with modern semiconductor fabrication processes. Ultrasmooth single-crystalline metallic films are beneficial for the fabrication of high-definition plasmonic nanostructures, especially complex integrated nanocircuits. The absence of surface corrugation and crystal boundaries also guarantees superior optical properties and applications in nanolasers. Here, we present UV to near-infrared plasmonic resonance of single-crystalline aluminum nanoslits and nanoholes. The high-definition nanostructures are fabricated with focused ion-beam milling into an ultrasmooth single-crystalline aluminum film grown on a semiconducting GaAs substrate with a molecular beam epitaxy method. The single-crystalline aluminum film shows improved reflectivity and reduced two-photon photoluminescence (TPPL) due to the ultrasmooth surface. Both linear scattering and nonlinear TPPL are studied in detail. The nanoslit arrays show clear Fano-like resonance, and the nanoholes are found to support both photonic modes and localized surface plasmon resonance. We also found that TPPL generation is more efficient when the excitation polarization is parallel rather than perpendicular to the edge of the aluminum film. Such a counterintuitive phenomenon is attributed to the high refractive index of the GaAs substrate. We show that the polarization of TPPL from aluminum preserves the excitation polarization and is independent of the crystal orientation of the film or substrate. Our study gains insight into the optical property of aluminum nanostructures on a high-index semiconducting GaAs substrate and illustrates a practical route to implement plasmonic devices onto semiconductors for future hybrid nanodevices.

Hybrid plasmonic waveguides for low-threshold nanolaser applications

We propose new types of hybrid plasmonic waveguides for low-threshold nanolaser applications. Modal properties and lasing threshold under different geometric shapes and parameters are investigated and ­analyzed by the finite element method, aiming to realize both low propagation and high field confinement. Results show that a smaller gap width and a larger round corner radius of the metal film reduce the lasing threshold. These new structures can open up new avenues in the fields of active plasmonic circuits.

Modal properties of triangular metal groove/wedge based hybrid plasmonic structures for laser actions at deep-subwavelength scale

Triangular metal groove/wedge based hybrid plasmonic structures are leveraged for nanolaser applications. It is shown through numerical simulations that by controlling the tip angle of the triangular metallic substrate, tunable lasing properties can be readily achieved. On the one hand, metal substrates with grooves could benefit enhanced optical confinement and meanwhile results in a reduced lasing threshold with carefully engineered tip angles. While on the other hand, metal wedge based structures could be used to further scale down the size of the stimulated optical mode, potentially enabling the realization of ultra-deep-subwavelength laser action. These novel structures could perform as efficient subwavelength light sources with flexible lasing properties, thereby facilitating diverse applications in future advanced active photonic systems.

Gain-assisted indented plasmonic waveguide for low-threshold nanolaser applications

A subwavelength plasmonic indented waveguide with an active InGaAsP core is proposed. The characteristics of the gap plasmon mode and gain required for lossless propagation are investigated and analyzed by the finite element method. We numerically calculate the normalized mode areas and percentages of energy confined in InGaAsP and metal for plasmonic nanolaser applications. It is shown that the indentation of the sidewalls has an optimal value for which the lasing threshold gain is minimal. The structure could enable low-threshold subwavelength lasing and applications for optoelectronic integrated circuits.

Guiding of Long-Range Hybrid Plasmon Polariton in a Coupled Nanowire Array at Deep-Subwavelength Scale

A novel type of hybrid plasmonic waveguiding structure that integrates semiconductor and metallic nanowires has been proposed and investigated at telecommunication wavelengths. Semiconductor nanowires symmetrically placed on both sides of a metallic nanowire provide an additional degree of freedom for tuning the characteristics of the plasmonic nanowire mode. Theoretical analysis reveals that at appropriate geometrical parameters, the symmetric hybrid plasmonic mode of the waveguide could achieve subwavelength mode confinement with ultra-long propagation distance (even exceeding the millimeter range). Such a hybrid plasmonic nanowire structure could facilitate ultra-strong light-matter interaction between semiconductor and metal materials, and enable important applications in nanolasers and nonlinear photonics.

UV Emission from Patterned Growth of ZnO Nanowires

Patterned and high-density ZnO nanowires were fabricated on a large area P type silicon (100) through Vapor-Liquid-Solid approach. An aluminium mask was used for the patterned deposition of gold catalyst. ZnO nanowires grown with the aid of gold catalyst were well aligned and had dimensions of 30-80 nm diameter and 0.5-2 microm length. The perfect crystallinity and orientation [0002] of the nanowires were confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Low-temperature photoluminescence spectrum exhibits an intensive UV emission at approximately 380 nm and a weak broad green band at approximately 530 nm which is detected under an optical excitation of 325 nm wavelength of He-Cd laser. These arrays of ZnO nanowires could have myriad applications in nanolasers, optoelectronic devices and optical interconnects.

Modal Properties of Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguides for Nanolaser Applications

We investigate the modal properties of nanowire-metal hybrid plasmonic waveguides by use of the coupled-mode theory and finite-element method. We show that the coupling between the nanowire fundamental HE11 mode and surface plasmon mode results in three different supermodes. We numerically calculate the dispersion relations, normalized mode areas, and confinement factors of these different modes for plasmonic nanolaser applications and show that the lowest threshold mode is determined by the waveguide geometry.