Wavelength–stabilized near–field laser

Surface-trapped electromagnetic waves can be localized at a boundary between a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and a homogeneous dielectric medium or air. These waves enable a novel class of in-plane-emitting optical devices including edge-emitting lasers, disk microlasers or near-field fiber-coupled lasers. We show that the surface-trapped modes can be controlled by tuning the thickness of a single DBR layer. Diagrams in variables "wavelength - thickness of the control layer" are constructed for both TM and TE optical modes revealing the parameter domains, in which surface-trapped modes exist. The domains contain cusps, in the vicinity of which a surface-trapped optical mode is allowed only in a narrow spectral region, enabling wavelength-stabilized operation of a laser. For a structure designed for lasing at ∼1 µm, the lasing wavelength shifts upon temperature increase at a rate ∼0.08 nm/K. The fraction of the optical power of the surface-trapped mode accumulated in the homogeneous dielectric can reach ∼50%. Thus, such structure is a near-field wavelength-stabilized semiconductor laser. Further, such structure can be applied as a wavelength-stabilized semiconductor optical amplifier adjacent to a dielectric waveguide or an optical fiber, both for integrated photonics and for ultrahigh-brightness laser diodes and diode arrays and stacks.