Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2025
06:16
Femtosecond Laser Filaments for Use in Sub-Diffraction-Limited Imaging and Remote Sensing
Published on: April 25, 2019
7.6K
Low-threshold nanolasers based on miniaturized bound states in the continuum
Yuhao Ren1, Peishen Li2, Zhuojun Liu3
1State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Science Advances
|December 23, 2022
Summary
Researchers developed compact lasers using miniaturized bound states in the continuum (mini-BICs) for efficient light confinement. These mini-BIC lasers achieve record low thresholds and high quality factors, paving the way for low-power photonic devices.
Area of Science:
- Photonics
- Laser Physics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Compact lasers require tight light confinement and minimal radiation loss.
- Bound states in the continuum (BICs) effectively trap light but often result in bulky devices.
- Existing BIC lasers lack in-plane light confinement, limiting miniaturization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop highly compact active resonators by combining BICs and photonic bandgaps.
- To achieve three-dimensional light confinement through miniaturized BICs (mini-BICs).
- To demonstrate single-mode lasing with a significantly reduced threshold.
Main Methods:
- Integration of BIC and photonic bandgap principles for 3D light confinement.
- Fabrication of active mini-BIC resonators.
- Characterization of resonator quality (Q factor) and lasing threshold.
- Photon statistics measurements to confirm stimulated emission.
Main Results:
- Demonstration of highly compact active mini-BIC resonators.
- Achieved a record high-quality (Q) factor up to 32,500.
- Enabled single-mode lasing with a record low threshold of 80 W/cm².
- Confirmed stimulated emission via photon statistics.
Conclusions:
- Mini-BICs offer a viable route to 3D light confinement in compact laser resonators.
- The demonstrated mini-BIC lasers exhibit superior performance in terms of size and threshold.
- This advancement holds potential for applications in cavity quantum electrodynamics, nonlinear optics, and integrated photonics with reduced power consumption.
