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Aellen, M.* ; Rossinelli, A.A.* ; Keitel, R.C.* ; Brechbühler, R.* ; Antolinez, F.V.* ; Rodrigo, S.G.* ; Cui, J. ; Norris, D.J.*

Role of gain in Fabry-Pérot surface plasmon polariton lasers.

ACS Photonics 9, 630-640 (2022)
Postprint DOI
Plasmonic lasers generate strongly confined electromagnetic fields over a narrow range of wavelengths. This is potentially useful for enhancing nonlinear effects, sensing chemical species, and providing on-chip sources of plasmons. By placing a semiconductor gain layer near a metallic interface with a gap layer in between, plasmonic lasers have been demonstrated. However, the role of gain in this common design has been understudied, leading to suboptimal choices. Here, we examine planar metallic lasers and explore the effect of gain on the lasing behavior. We print semiconductor nanoplatelets as a gain layer of controllable thickness onto alumina-coated silver films with integrated planar Fabry-Pérot cavities. Lasing behavior is then monitored with spectrally and polarization-resolved far-field imaging. The results are compared with a theoretical waveguide model and a rate-equation model, which consider both plasmonic and photonic modes and explicitly include losses and gain. We find that the nature of the lasing mode is dictated by the gain-layer thickness and, contrary to conventional wisdom, a gap layer with a high refractive index can be advantageous for plasmonic lasing in planar Fabry-Pérot cavities. Our rate-equation model also reveals a regime where plasmonic and photonic modes compete in an unintuitive way, potentially useful for facile, active mode switching. These results can guide future design of metallic lasers and could lead to on-chip lasers with controlled photonic and plasmonic output.
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Metallic Laser ; Mode Competition ; Nanoplatelets ; Plasmonic Laser ; Spaser ; Threshold Gain; Nanowire Lasers; Performance
ISSN (print) / ISBN 2330-4022
e-ISSN 2330-4022
Journal ACS Photonics
Quellenangaben Volume: 9, Issue: 2, Pages: 630-640 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher American Chemical Society (ACS)
Publishing Place 1155 16th St, Nw, Washington, Dc 20036 Usa
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Helmholtz Pioneer Campus (HPC)
Grants Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Grant