Open AccessLow-threshold lasing in photonic-crystal heterostructures
Author(s) -
M. Sreenivasa Reddy,
R. Vijaya,
Ivan D. Rukhlenko,
Malin Premaratne
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.22.006229
Subject(s) - lasing threshold , photonic crystal , materials science , heterojunction , optics , dispersion (optics) , optoelectronics , laser , crystal (programming language) , physics , wavelength , computer science , programming language
We study a photonic crystal (PhC) heterostructure cavity consisting of gain medium in a three-dimensional (3D) PhC sandwiched between two identical passive multilayers. For this structure, based on Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method, we observe a decrease in the lasing threshold of two orders of magnitude, as compared with a stand-alone 3D PhC. We attribute this remarkable decrease in threshold gain to the overlap of the defect cavity mode with the reduced group velocity region of the PhC's dispersion, and the associated enhancement in the distributed feedback from the ordered layers of the PhC. The obtained results show the potency for designing PhC-based, compact on-chip lasers with ultra-low thresholds.