An eigenvalue method is proposed to study the threshold behaviors of plasmonic nano-lasers. The medium gain and dispersion are taken into consideration based on semi-classical laser dynamics, and therefore the lasing threshold, mode pattern, and lasing frequency can be theoretically predicted. The lasing properties of dielectric, plasmonic core, and plasmonic shell nano-lasers are investigated in details. It is found that the lasing thresholds of nano-lasers can be reduced by two orders of magnitude when introducing localized surface plasmon modes. 相似文献
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. 相似文献
We propose an electrically-pumped hybrid plasmonic laser through the integration of a semiconductor quantum well laser with
a thin metal film. Due to the coupling between the TM waveguide mode in the III–V active layer and the LRSPP mode around the
metal thin film, light can be confined in both regions and optical gain can be provided by the active layer. We have shown
that the quasi-odd supermode is the preferred lasing mode because of its larger confinement factor and lower modal loss compared
to the quasi-even supermode. Through optimizing the gap distance between the active region and the metal film, we can obtain
low threshold and a large amount of optical energy confined around the metal film for the hybrid plasmonic laser. 相似文献
A novel nanolaser structure based on a hybrid plasmonic waveguide is proposed and investigated. The coupling between the metal nanowire and the high-index semiconductor nanowire with optical gain leads to a strong field enhancement in the air gap region and low propagation loss, which enables the realization of lasing at the deep subwavelength scale.By optimizing the geometric parameters of the structure, a minimal lasing threshold is achieved while maintaining the capacity of ultra-deep subwavelength mode confinement. Compared with the previous coupled nanowire pair based hybrid plasmonic structure, a lower threshold can be obtained with the same geometric parameters. The proposed nanolaser can be integrated into a miniature chip as a nanoscale light source and has the potential to be widely used in optical communication and optical sensing technology. 相似文献
Herein,we propose a high-quality(Q) factor hybrid plasmonic nanocavity based on distributed Bragg reflectors(DBRs) with low propagation loss and extremely strong mode confinement.This hybrid plasmonic nanocavity is composed of a high-index cylindrical nanowire separated from a metal surface possessing shallow DBRs gratings by a sufficiently thin low-index dielectric layer.The hybrid plasmonic nanocavity possesses advantages such as a high Purcell factor(Fp) of up to nearly 20000 and a gain threshold approaching 266 cm~(-1)at 1550 nm,promising a greater potential in deep sub-wavelength lasing applications. 相似文献
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. 相似文献
This paper reports the plasmonic lasing of a split ring filled with gain material in water. The lasing mode(1500 nm)is far from the pump mode(980 nm), which can depress the detection noise from the pump light. The laser intensities of the two modes simultaneously increase by more than 10~3 in amplitude, which can intensify the absorption efficiency of the pumping light and enhance the plasmonic lasing. The plasmonic lasing is a sensitive sensor. When a single protein nanoparticle(n = 1.5, r = 1.25 nm) is trapped in the gap of the split ring, the lasing spectrum moves by 0.031 nm, which is much larger than the detection limit of 10~(-5) nm. Moreover, the lasing intensity is also very sensitive to the trapped nanoparticle. It reduces to less than 1/600 when a protein nanoparticle(n = 1.5, r = 1.25 nm) is trapped in the gap. 相似文献
Plasmonic metamaterials form an exciting new class of engineered media that promise a range of important applications, such
as subwavelength focusing, cloaking and slowing/stopping of light. Recently it has been shown that the internal losses due
to the natural absorption of metals at optical frequencies can be compensated by gain. Here, we employ a Maxwell–Bloch methodology
which allows us to study the dynamics of the coherent plasmon-gain interaction, nonlinear saturation, field enhancement and
radiative damping. Using numerical pump-probe experiments on a double-fishnet metamaterial with dye-molecule inclusions we
investigate the buildup of the inversion and the formation of the plasmonic modes in the low-Q fishnet cavity. We find that loss compensation occurs in the negative-refractive-index regime and that, due to the loss compensation
and the associated sharpening of the resonance, the real part of the refractive index of the metamaterial becomes more negative
compared to the passive case. Furthermore, we investigate the behavior of the metamaterial above the lasing threshold, and
we identify the occurrence of a far-field lasing burst and gain depletion. Our results provide deep insight into the internal
processes that affect the macroscopic properties of active metamaterials. This could guide the development of amplifying and
lasing plasmonic nanostructures. 相似文献
Surface plasmon amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation (spaser) in plasmonic nanocavities as a novel concept has quickly advanced in recent years. Understanding the nature and mechanism of the spaser system is important for both fundamental studies and the development of new applications. We theoretically investigate the spaser made from a plasmonic nano-antenna embedded with active gain media by using an analytical semiclassical theory. It incorporates the four-level atomic rate equations in association with the classical oscillator model for active materials and Maxwell’s equations for fields. The nano-antenna cavity has a large Purcell factor and low absorption loss which is beneficial for the realization of low-threshold spaser. We use the theory to uncover all the characteristics of this nanocavity spaser system, including the enhancement of the local electric field, gain, saturation phenomenon and lasing threshold. It is found that an important quantity named the cavity loss coupling strength coefficient can be explored to provide a new way to design the nanocavity precisely to reduce the absorption power density and enhance the spaser output power density simultaneously. The theory can be commonly used in understanding and designing various micro/nanolaser and spaser systems. 相似文献
We show that time-independent scattering coefficients calculated from the standard extrapolation of Mie theory to the gain regime have physical meaning up to the laser threshold. The theoretical width of a resonance decreases linearly with increasing gain and becomes zero at the laser threshold. We performed experiments on dielectric microspheres with gain, trapped with optical tweezers. The width of the mode was measured to narrow as a function of the gain up to the lasing threshold, confirming both the validity of the extrapolation of Mie theory to the gain regime below threshold and our interpretation of its point of divergence as the laser threshold. 相似文献
Leaky modes are below‐cutoff waveguide modes that lose part of their energy to the continuum of radiation modes during propagation. In photonic nanowire lasers, leaky modes have to compete with almost lossless above‐cutoff modes and are therefore usually prevented from crossing the lasing threshold. The situation is drastically different in plasmonic nanowire systems where the above‐cutoff plasmonic modes are very lossy because of their strong confinement to the metal surface. Due to gain guiding, the threshold gain of the hybrid electric leaky mode does not increase strongly with reduced wire diameter and stays below that of all other modes, making it possible to observe leaky‐mode lasing. Plasmonic ZnO nanowire lasers operating in the gain‐guided regime could be used as coherent sources of surface plasmon polaritons at the nanoscale or as surface plasmon emitting diodes with an emission angle that depends on the nanowire diameter and the color of the surface plasmon polariton.
We demonstrate a Raman laser using cold (87)Rb atoms as the gain medium in a high-finesse optical cavity. We observe robust continuous wave lasing in the atypical regime where single atoms can considerably affect the cavity field. Consequently, we discover unusual lasing threshold behavior in the system causing jumps in lasing power, and propose a model to explain the effect. We also measure the intermode laser linewidth, and observe values as low as 80 Hz. The tunable gain properties of this laser suggest multiple directions for future research. 相似文献
We introduce a low refractive index layer between the metal and the gain medium in metal-coated laser resonators and demonstrate that it can significantly reduce the dissipation losses. Analysis of a gain medium waveguide shows that for a given waveguide radius, the low index layer has an optimal thickness for which the lasing threshold gain is minimal. The waveguide analysis is used for the design of a novel three-dimensional cylindrical resonator that is smaller than the vacuum wavelength in all three dimensions and exhibits a low enough threshold gain to lase at room temperature. 相似文献