Low-Threshold Amplified Spontaneous Emission from Quasi-2D Lead-Bromide Perovskites for Lasing Applications

Quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) lead halide perovskite materials have shown great potential as gain media for amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and lasing. Due to the complexity of the mixed-dimensional perovskite materials, factors influencing their ASE thresholds remain unclear, limiting the pace of development in this emerging area of research. Here, we report exceptionally low ASE thresholds of ∼2.23 μJ cm^-2 with high stability in quasi-2D lead-bromide perovskite semiconductors. Improved gain coefficients, suppressed Auger recombination, effective coupling between the optical field and the gain medium, and minimized scattering losses are found to be some of the key contributors to the low-threshold ASE. The optimized materials lead to the demonstration of a low-threshold, single-mode perovskite laser based on a distributed feedback (DFB) optical resonator, yielding a low lasing threshold of 0.69 μJ cm^-2. We expect our findings to clarify some of the key design principles of low-threshold ASE in perovskite semiconductors for lasing applications.