1. Photonic-crystal lasers with two-dimensionally arranged gain and loss sections for high-peak-power short-pulse operation
- Author
-
Menaka De Zoysa, Kenji Ishizaki, Takuya Inoue, Susumu Noda, and Ryohei Morita
- Subjects
Materials science ,business.industry ,02 engineering and technology ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Laser ,01 natural sciences ,Instability ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Semiconductor laser theory ,law.invention ,Power (physics) ,010309 optics ,law ,Picosecond ,0103 physical sciences ,Optoelectronics ,0210 nano-technology ,business ,Lasing threshold ,Pulse-width modulation ,Photonic crystal - Abstract
Realizing high-peak-power (tens to hundreds of watts or higher) short-pulse (tens of picoseconds or less) operation in semiconductor lasers is crucial for state-of-the-art applications including eye-safe high-resolution remote sensing and non-thermal ultrafine material processing. However, it has been challenging to introduce mechanisms that enable stable high-peak-power short-pulse operation in conventional semiconductor lasers. Here, we propose photonic crystal lasers that have two-dimensionally arranged gain and loss sections to enable high-peak-power short-pulse operation in the fundamental mode while suppressing lasing in higher-order modes to avoid laser instability. On the basis of this concept, we experimentally realize a high peak power of ~20 W and a short pulse width of ~35 ps with an injection current of only 3-4 A using a 400-μm-diameter device and theoretically predict that even higher peak power (>300 W) can be achieved in a 1-mm-diameter device. Our results will contribute to the realization of next-generation laser sources for the aforementioned applications. By using engineered gain and loss sections in a photonic crystal laser, pulses with a peak power of ~20 W and pulse width of ~35 ps have been experimentally demonstrated and even higher peak power operation (>300 W) has been theoretically predicted.
- Published
- 2021