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Anapole nanolasers for mode-locking and ultrafast pulse generation
Juan S Totero Gongora1, Andrey E Miroshnichenko2, Yuri S Kivshar2
1PRIMALIGHT, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Nature Communications
|June 1, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed a new nanoscale laser using an anapole mode for efficient light coupling. This breakthrough enables enhanced on-chip light sources for advanced nanocircuitry.
Area of Science:
- Nanophotonics and optical metamaterials.
- Solid-state physics and semiconductor devices.
Background:
- Efficient light coupling to nanoscale optical structures is a significant challenge in nanophotonics.
- Existing nanophotonic devices often lack effective light-matter interaction for practical applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and demonstrate a novel nanoscale laser design utilizing a tightly confined anapole mode.
- To engineer on-chip light sources with unique optical properties for integrated photonic circuits.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) nanodisks to create anapole modes.
- Leveraging the near-field characteristics of anapole states for light confinement and emission.
- Engineering spontaneously polarized nanolasers and demonstrating ultrafast pulse generation via spontaneous mode locking.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated a spontaneously polarized nanolaser with four orders of magnitude higher intensity coupling into waveguide channels compared to classical nanolasers.
- Achieved generation of ultrafast pulses (100 fs) through spontaneous mode locking of multiple anapoles.
- Showcased the non-radiating nature of the anapole state for efficient light manipulation.
Conclusions:
- Anapole nanolasers provide an efficient platform for on-chip light generation and manipulation.
- This technology offers a pathway towards advanced and efficient nanoscale circuitry integrated with silicon photonics.
- The proposed nanolasers exhibit unique optical properties suitable for next-generation photonic devices.
