Liquid-crystal-based tunable high-Q directional random laser from a planar random microcavity

Temperature-tunable directional laser emission from a dye-doped liquid-crystal-based planar random cavity laser is presented. The optically pumped nematic liquid crystal infiltrated planar random microcavity produces an ultranarrow linewidth (0.03 nm, corresponding to Q>20,000), highly directional (1.4 degrees divergence angle) laser emission. By increasing the temperature from 27 degrees C to 34 degrees C, the wavelength of an emitted polarized laser can be tuned between 605.8 and 608.5 (ordinary light) and 631.3 and 624.9 nm (extraordinary light). A simulation result from the transfer matrix method that matches the experimental results well is also presented.     

Single-frequency coupled asymmetric microcavity laser

Single-mode lasing from a coupled asymmetric microcavity is achieved. By coupling two size mismatched circular microrings to form a coupled asymmetric microcavity, multi-whispering-gallery modes are successfully suppressed and single-frequency laser emission is robustly obtained. Moreover, the laser emits in four directions, and each beam has a divergence of only 6.6 degrees . It is demonstrated further that this single-frequency coupled microcavity laser can be easily integrated with planar lightwave circuits. We provide an easily accessible approach to achieve a single-frequency laser from microcavity lasers operating on whispering-gallery modes.     

Cylindrical microcavity laser based on the evanescent-wave-coupled gain

A microcavity laser based on the gain only in the evanescent field region of whispering gallery modes has been demonstrated. A cylindrical microcavity of 125 microm diam was surrounded by rhodamine 6G dye molecules in an ethanol solution of lower refractive index such that whispering gallery modes of the microcavity underwent laser oscillation when the dye molecules in the evanescent field region outside the cavity were excited by a second harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser. For particular pumping spots, single-mode laser oscillation of a transverse magnetic mode was observed at about 600 nm with associated cavity Q of 3x10(7).     

Nonlinear localized modes in bandgap microcavities

We study experimentally an electrically pumped GaAs-based bandgap structure based on a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL). We demonstrate that a microcavity embedded into this bandgap VCSEL structure supports localized optical modes without any holding beam. We propose a model of surface-structured VCSELs based on a reduced dissipative wave equation for describing electromagnetic modes in such semiconductor cavities and analyze a crossover between linear and nonlinear solitonlike cavity modes.     

Controlling spontaneous emission and threshold-less laser oscillation with optical microcavities

We describe the alteration of spontaneous emission of materials in optical microcavities having dimensions on the order of the emitted wavelength. Particular attention is paid to one-dimensional optical confinement structures with pairs of planar reflectors (planar microcavities). The presence of the cavity causes great modifications in the emission spectrum and spatial emission intensity distribution accompanied by changes in the spontaneous emission lifetime. Experimental results are shown for planar microcavities containing GaAs quantum wells or organic dye-embedded Langmuir-Brodgett films as light emitting layers. Also discussed are the laser oscillation properties of microcavities. A remarkable increase in the spontaneous emission coupling into the laser oscillation mode is expected in microcavity lasers. A rate equation analysis shows that increasing the coupling of spontaneous emission into the cavity mode causes the disappearance of the lasing threshold in the input-output curve. Experimentally verification is presented using planar optical microcavities confining an organic dye solution. The coupling ratio of spontaneous emission into a laser mode increases to be as large as 0.2 for a cavity having a half wavelength distance between a pair of mirrors. At this point, the threshold becomes quite fuzzy. Differences between the spontaneous emission dominant regime and the stimulated emission dominant regime are examined with emission spectra and emission lifetime analyses.     

耦合结构有机微腔的光致发光特性

耦合光学微腔(Coupled optical microcavity,CMC)是一种特殊结构的微腔,在耦合微腔中,两个独立的微腔相邻耦合在一起.通常一个腔是无源的,另一个腔是有源的.首次研究了有机材料在耦合微腔中的自发发射特性.实验采用的有机发光材料为八羟基喹啉铝Tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminium(Alq₃),器件的结构为Glass/DBR_A/Filler/DBR_B/Alq₃/DBR_C.底部腔是无源的,组成为DBR_A/Filler/DBR_B.顶部腔是有源的,由DBR_B/Alq₃/DBR_C构成.其中反射镜DBR_A、DBR_B、DBR_C以及填充层(Filler)均由光学介质材料构成.通过结构设计使两个腔的谐振波长均位于530nm.耦合微腔器件与单层Alq₃薄膜相比较,Alq₃薄膜的光致发光光谱是峰值位于511nm的宽谱带,而在耦合微腔器件中观察到的是具有两个腔模式,峰值波长分别位于518,553nm的增强并窄化的光谱.这是由于两个腔的光场耦合引起了腔模式分裂.结果表明耦合微腔能极大地改变有机材料的自发发射特性,可以用来提高器件的发光效率.     

微腔激光器速率方程分析

推出了至少有一维尺寸在发射波长量级的微腔激光器的光输出特性，首次得到了无辐射衰减速率不等于零时速率方程的角析解。结果表明，微腔激光器自发发射到腔模的较高的合效率使激发特性和传统的激光器有很大的不同。     

优化电激励光子晶体单缺陷激光腔结构

设计和制作电激励光子晶体微腔激光器的一个困难是电流的注入问题,而且电流的路径时常会导致微腔的Q值降低。将三维并行时域有限差分方法用于电激励光子晶体单缺陷激光腔研究,给出了微腔的本征模式分布。根据模式特点,选择单极子模式作为研究对象。数值模拟表明,在保持C_(6v)对称性条件前提下,微调最靠近微腔中心的6个空气孔的位置使得单极子模式的光场分布在腔边缘发生缓慢变化可以将单极子模的Q值和Purcell因子提高大约7倍。即激光器阈值可以降低7倍。     

Square microcavity semiconductor lasers

Square microcavities, which support whispering-gallery modes with total internal reflections, can be employed as high-quality laser resonators for fabricating compact, low-threshold semiconductor lasers. In this paper, we review the recent progress of square microcavity semiconductor lasers. The characteristics of confined optical modes in the square microcavities are introduced briefly. Based on the mode properties of the square microcavities, dual-mode lasers with tunable wavelength intervals are realized for generating microwave signals. Furthermore, deformed square microcavity lasers with the sidewalls replaced by circular sides are proposed and experimentally demonstrated to enhance the mode confinement and increase the dual-mode interval to the THz range. In order to further reduce the device size, metal-confined wavelength-scale square cavity lasers are also demonstrated.     

Hybrid states of Tamm plasmons and exciton-polaritons

We have demonstrated theoretically that it is possible to use the resonant coupling of exciton-polaritons in a planar microcavity and Tamm plasmons at a metal film on the surface of the structure to provide lateral spatial control of the exciton-polaritons within the cavity. The resonant coupling of the Tamm plasmons to cavity exciton-polaritons results in a triplet of hybrid plasmon–exciton-polariton modes with the lowest at a significantly lower energy than that of the unperturbed exciton-polaritons. Further, a patterned metal film on the structure surface can provide a sufficiently large lateral modulation of the excitation energy that localization of the exciton-polaritons within chosen regions of the cavity is possible. We show how the approach opens the way to a practical demonstration of polariton channels, traps, and devices, including logic gates.     

白光微腔有机电致发光器件的结构设计与制备

采用一种宽谱带绿光发光材料,通过两个颜色互补的谐振模式结构设计实现了白光发射的微腔OLED.与普通结构的OLED相比,器件的电致发光效率提高了0.7倍.优化后的白光微腔OLED的色坐标为(0.34,0.33),且颜色不随工作电压变化.进一步改善显色指数性能则需要构建多个模式的微腔结构.     

Approximate analytic expressions for calculation of spontaneous emission spectra for a quantum well embedded in a planar microcavity

The control of spontaneous emission is one of important characteristics of a planar microcavity. The integrals in the spherical coordinate for TE and TM modes spontaneous emission spectra of a quantum well (QW) embedded in a planar microcavity are derived with new variables dependent on wavelength and Taylor series including the two polarizations of the vacuum field. The approximate expressions of spontaneous emission in QW planar microcavities are obtained. The approximate results show that spontaneous emission spectra agree well with that in the numerical integral for planar semiconductor microcavities, in which Fermi-Dirac distribution functions of electrons and holes are considered. The main contribution to the spontaneous emission, radiated into all direction, has been found.     

Controlled switching between quantum states in the exciton–polariton condensate

Optically controlled switching between modes of a polariton laser having different symmetries has been demonstrated experimentally. The microscopic shift of the optical excitation spot dramatically changes the shape of the polariton condensate formed in a cylindrical micropillar on the basis of the planar semiconductor microcavity. Switching between the ring and lobed condensate is achieved owing to the violation of the cylindrical symmetry of the effective potential formed by the lateral surface of the pillar and by the cloud of incoherent excitons created by optical pumping.     

Sub-wavelength probing and modification of photonic crystal nano-cavities

In this work we present a sizeable and reversible spectral tuning of the resonances of a two-dimensional photonic crystal nano-cavity by exploiting the introduction of a sub-wavelength size glass tip. The comparison between experimental near-field data and results of numerical calculations shows that the spectral shift induced by the tip is proportional to the local electric field intensity of the cavity mode. This observation proves that the electromagnetic local density of states in a microcavity can be directly measured by mapping the tip-induced spectral shift with a scanning near-field optical microscope. Moreover, a non-linear control on the cavity resonance is obtained by exploiting the local heating induced by near-field laser excitation at different excitation powers. The temperature gradient due to the optical absorption results in an index of refraction gradient which modifies the dielectric surroundings of the cavity and shifts the optical modes.     

Whispering gallery microcavity lasers

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical microresonators have attracted intense interests in the past decades. The combination of high quality factors (Q) and small mode volumes of modes in WGM resonators significantly enhances the light‐matter interactions, making them excellent cavities for achieving low threshold and narrow linewidth lasers. In this Review, the progress in WGM microcavity lasers is summarized, and the laser performance considering resonator geometries and materials as well as lasing mechanisms is discussed. Label‐free detection using WGM resonators has emerged as highly sensitive detection schemes. However, the resolution is mainly limited by the cavity Q factor which determines the mode linewidth. Microcavity lasers, due to their narrow laser spectral width, could greatly improve the detection resolution. Some recent developments in sensing using microcavity lasers are discussed.     

基于飞秒激光直写的单向单模耦合微腔

对具有高Q值的回音壁模式微腔进行调制来获得单向单模输出,对研究腔光力学和开发高质量的微激光具有重要意义.本文对利用飞秒激光直写加工的耦合回音壁模式微腔的研究进行了简要回顾,具体介绍了微腔结构设计、加工过程、激射和耦合机制研究等.利用飞秒激光直写加工的强大三维图案化能力,灵活地设计实现了具有集成功能的单个微腔和具有不同空间组合位置的多个耦合微腔.基于耦合微腔的微激光具有低阂值,同时显示出良好的单模特性和单向性.结合理论模拟可以证实,微腔与微腔/光栅之间的耦合,一方面支持游标效应和集成滤波两种选模方式,另一方面能够破坏微腔的旋转对称性从而获得单向输出,从而实现了对微腔输出的有效调控.     

Planar defects in three-dimensional chalcogenide glass photonic crystals

Here we report on the direct laser writing fabrication of Fabry-Perot-type planar microcavities in a three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystal (PhC) embedded within a high-refractive nonlinear chalcogenide glass (ChG) film. The fabricated planar microcavities in a nonlinear ChG 3D PhC facilitate the observation of resonant modes inside the stop gap. The experimental results show that the length of the planar cavity can be well controlled by the fabrication power and thus be used to tune the defect modes. The tunability of the observed defect modes is confirmed by the theoretical prediction.     

Nonlinear Dynamics of a Dipolariton Optical Parametric Oscillator

JETP Letters - The dynamics of dipolariton states in a planar microcavity under pumping into the middle dipolariton branch by two laser pulses with close frequencies is investigated. It is shown...     

Asymmetric stationary lasing patterns in 2D symmetric microcavities

Locking of two resonance modes of different symmetry classes and different frequencies in 2D resonant microcavity lasers is investigated by using a nonlinear dynamical model. The patterns of stationary lasing states and far fields are asymmetric in spite of the symmetric shape of the resonant microcavity. The corresponding phenomenon is actually observed in the experiment of a 2D semiconductor microcavity laser diode.     

二维随机介质中准态模的频谱时间演化特性

采用时域有限差分法数值求解Maxwell方程组，分析了平面随机介质中光波模式的频谱时间演化特性.随机介质的特征可以用散射颗粒的随机构形、介质参数（如颗粒的尺寸和填充率等）以及介质形态等因素来描述.这些因素决定了随机介质在准稳态下模式的频率特性与数量，但具有不同因素的随机介质中模式的产生、选择与演化，具有大致相同的特征与速度.平面随机介质的这些冷腔特性，与传统光腔中模式的产生、选择和演化的特征非常相似. 关键词： 激光物理 随机激光器 无序介质中的光学特性