Open AccessSubwavelength micropillar array terahertz lasers
Author(s) -
Michael Krall,
Markus Brandstetter,
C. Deutsch,
Hermann Detz,
A. M. Andrews,
W. Schrenk,
G. Strasser,
K. Unterrainer
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.22.000274
Subject(s) - terahertz radiation , laser , lasing threshold , photonic crystal , optics , materials science , optoelectronics , semiconductor laser theory , photonics , nanolaser , physics
We report on micropillar-based terahertz lasers with active pillars that are much smaller than the emission wavelength. These micropillar array lasers correspond to scaled-down band-edge photonic crystal lasers forming an active photonic metamaterial. In contrast to photonic crystal lasers which use significantly larger pillar structures, lasing emission is not observed close to high-symmetry points in the photonic band diagram, but in the effective medium regime. We measure stimulated emission at 4 THz for micropillar array lasers with pillar diameters of 5 µm. Our results not only demonstrate the integration of active subwavelength optics in a terahertz laser, but are also an important step towards the realization of nanowire-based terahertz lasers.