Ultra-Compact Topological Photonic Crystal Rainbow Nanolasers Operating in the 1550 nm Telecom Band with...

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Nanotechnology
• Topological Photonics
• Laser Technology

Background:

• Topological rainbow trapping enables spatial separation and confinement of multiple light frequencies.
• Achieving robust multi-wavelength single-mode coherent emission in a single nanodevice is a key challenge.
• Topological photonic crystals offer unique light manipulation properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate ultra-compact topological photonic crystal rainbow nanolasers.
• To achieve robust multi-wavelength single-mode coherent emission in the 1550 nm telecom band.
• To explore spectral control and miniaturization of nanolasers.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) topological photonic crystal nanolasers.
• Experimental characterization of rainbow-like single-mode emission.
• Analysis of spectral properties, temperature robustness, and tuning capabilities.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated 1D topological rainbow nanolasers with controllable free spectral range and wavelength-scale mode volume.
• Observed robust rainbow spectral emission over a wide temperature range with ~70 nm spectral tuning.
• Showcased ultra-compact 2D topological rainbow nanolasers with 64 continuously tuned single-mode lasing peaks.

Conclusions:

• This work presents a promising approach for robust, nanoscale multi-wavelength single-mode coherent emission.
• The demonstrated nanolasers pave the way for applications in ultra-compact high-throughput data processing.
• Potential applications include on-chip wavelength-division-multiplexing and optical interconnects.