Low-threshold nanolasers based on miniaturized bound states in the continuum.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36563161.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.ade8817 and PMC identifier 9788758.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The pursuit of compact lasers with low thresholds has imposed strict requirements on tight light confinements with minimized radiation losses. Bound states in the continuum (BICs) have been recently demonstrated as an effective mechanism to trap light. However, most reported BIC lasers are still bulky due to the absence of in-plane light confinement. Here, we combine BICs and photonic bandgaps to realize three-dimensional light confinements, as referred to miniaturized BICs (mini-BICs). We demonstrate highly compact active mini-BIC resonators with a record high-quality (<i>Q</i>) factor of up to 32,500, which enables single-mode lasing with the lowest threshold of 80 W/cm<sup>2</sup> among the reported BIC lasers. In addition, photon statistics measurements further confirm the occurrence of the stimulated emission in our devices. Our work reveals a path toward compact BIC lasers with ultralow power consumption and potentially boosts the applications in cavity quantum electrodynamics, nonlinear optics, and integrated photonics.