Query: Lasing action from photonic bound states in continuum

Candidate papers:

abstract: In 1929, only three years after the advent of quantum mechanics, von Neumann and Wigner showed that Schrodinger's equation can have bound states above the continuum threshold. These peculiar states, called bound states in the continuum (BICs) manifest themselves as resonances that do not decay. For several decades afterwards the idea lay dormant, regarded primarily as a mathematical curiosity. In 1977, Herrick and Stillinger revived interest in BICs when they suggested that BICs could be observed in semiconductor superlattices. BICs arise naturally from Feshbach's quantum mechanical theory of resonances, as explained by Friedrich and Wintgen, and are thus more physical than initially realized. Recently, it was realized that BICs are intrinsically a wave phenomenon and are thus not restricted to the realm of quantum mechanics. They have since been shown to occur in many different fields of wave physics including acoustics, microwaves and nanophotonics. However, experimental observations of BICs have been limited to passive systems and the realization of BIC lasers has remained elusive. Here we report, at room temperature, lasing action from an optically pumped BIC cavity. Our results show that the lasing wavelength of the fabricated BIC cavities, each made of an array of cylindrical nanoresonators suspended in air, scales with the radii of the nanoresonators according to the theoretical prediction for the BIC mode. Moreover, lasing action from the designed BIC cavity persists even after scaling down the array to as few as 8 by 8 nanoresonators. BIC lasers open up new avenues in the study of light matter interaction because they are intrinsically connected to topological charges and represent natural vector beam sources (that is, there are several possible beam shapes) which are highly sought after in the fields of optical trapping, biological sensing and quantum information.
author_names: Ashok Kodigala

Thomas Lepetit

Qing Gu

Babak Bahari

Yeshaiahu Fainman

Boubacar Kante
title: Lasing action from photonic bound states in continuum
venue: Nature
year: 2017

abstract: Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are widely studied for their ability to confine light, produce sharp resonances for sensing applications and serve as avenues for lasing action with topological characteristics. Primarily, the formation of BICs in periodic photonic band gap structures are driven by symmetry incompatibility; structural manipulation or variation of incidence angle from incoming light. In this work, we report two modalities for driving the formation of BICs in terahertz metasurfaces. At normal incidence, we experimentally confirm polarization driven symmetry protected BICs by the variation of the linear polarization state of light. In addition, we demonstrate through strong coupling of two radiative modes the formation of capacitively driven Freidrich Wintgen BICs, exotic modes which occur in off G points not accessible by symmetry protected BICs. The capacitance mediated strong coupling at 0deg polarization is verified to have a normalized coupling strength ratio of 4.17% obtained by the Jaynes Cummings model. Furthermore, when the polarization angle is varied from 0deg to 90deg (0deg ph 90deg) the Freidrich Wintgen BIC is modulated until it is completely switched off at 90deg. Bound states in the continuum, offering long lived, spatially confined photon states, are typically realized via geometric manipulation of symmetry. Here, the formation of bound states in the continuum is instead driven in a THz metasurface by varying the polarization.
author_names: Chan Kyaw

Riad Yahiaoui

Joshua A Burrow

Viet Nhan Hao Tran

Kyron Keelen

Wesley Sims

Eddie C Red

Willie S Rockward

Mikkel A Thomas

Andrew M Sarangan

Imad H Agha

Thomas A Searles
title: Polarization selective modulation of supercavity resonances originating from bound states in the continuum
year: 2020

abstract: On chip light sources are critical for the realization of fully integrated photonic circuitry. So far, semiconductor miniaturized lasers have been mainly limited to sizes on the order of a few microns. Further reduction of sizes is challenging fundamentally due to the associated radiative losses. While using plasmonic metals helps to reduce radiative losses and sizes, they also introduce Ohmic losses hindering real improvements. In this work, we show that, making use of quasi bound states in the continuum, or supercavity modes, we circumvent these fundamental issues and realize one of the smallest purely semiconductor nanolasers thus far. Here, the nanolaser structure is based on a single semiconductor nanocylinder that intentionally takes advantage of the destructive interference between two supported optical modes, namely Fabry Perot and Mie modes, to obtain a significant enhancement in the quality factor of the cavity. We experimentally demonstrate the concept and obtain optically pumped lasing action using GaAs at cryogenic temperatures. The optimal nanocylinder size is as small as 500 nm in diameter and only 330 nm in height with a lasing wavelength around 825 nm, corresponding to a size to wavelength ratio as low as 0.6.
author_names: V M Mylnikov

Son Tung Ha

Zhenying Pan

Vytautas Valuckas

Ramon Paniagua-Dominguez

Hilmi Volkan Demir

Arseniy I Kuznetsov
title: Lasing Action in Single Subwavelength Particles Supporting Supercavity Modes.
venue: ACS nano
year: 2020

abstract: We have demonstrated for the first time lasing action in a Bound stae in the Continuum (BIC) based cavity. We have achieved this result on a platform made of an ensemble of dielectric resonators that is compatible with electrical pumping. Lasing action was observed at room temperature in a compact array with a footprint as small as 9x9 mm2. The lasing wavelength follows the prediction of the BIC mode as the radius is varied for different array sizes thereby demonstrating the robustness and scalability of the system. Additionally, this work paves the way for future investigation into the intriguing topological properties of BICs. Furthermore, this design can be implemented for an electrically pumped equivalent thereby taking full advantage of its power efficient performance. The fundamental principle of bound states can also be used to design in plane emitting laser.
author_names: Boubacar Kante
title: Topological photonic light sources (Conference Presentation)
venue: NanoScience Engineering
year: 2016

abstract: We demonstrate lasing action in the visible from an all dielectric metasurface. A low laser threshold is achieved with a high Q resonance due to operation at the near bound states in the continuum (BIC) regime.
author_names: Shaimaa I H Azzam

Krishnakali Chaudhuri

Alexei S Lagutchev

Young S Kim

Vladimir M Shalaev

Alexandra Boltasseva

Alexander V Kildishev
title: Room Temperature Lasing Action from All Dielectric Metasurfaces near Bound States in the Continuum
venue: 2020 Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics (CLEO)
year: 2020

abstract: Recently, optical bound states in continuum in various passive photonic crystals have been identified and similar structures incorporated with optical gain have been reported to exhibit lasing. However, no explicit control over the type of lasing BIC has been reported. In this work, we utilize all four fundamental BICs related to the lowest energy G point of a square photonic crystal lattice. We identify the associated topological charges from experimentally obtained dispersions, finite element method simulations, as well as from spherical decomposition method based on the microscopic polarization currents in the photonic crystal plane. By tailoring the periodicity and the hole diameter of the photonic crystal slab, we selectively bring each of the four BIC resonances to a wavelength regime, where fluorescent IR702 molecules overlaid with the photonic crystal provide sufficient gain for the onset of lasing. We experimentally analyze all four observed lasing BICs by imaging their far field polarization vortices and their associated topological charges. The results correspond excellently with the transmission results as well as the simulation results in the absence of gain. Finally, we experimentally present a case where the lasing signal reveals the coexistence of two BICs with opposite topological charges, resulting in a unique polarization pattern. We believe our results enable tailoring the properties, such as polarization winding and topological charge of BICs, by a priori design and thus pave the way for a more general utilization of their appealing
author_names: Sughra Mohamed

Jie Wang

Heikki Rekola

Janne Heikkinen

Benjamin O Asamoah

Lei Shi

Tommi K Hakala
title: Topological charge engineering in lasing bound states in continuum
year: 2020

abstract: Photonic bound states in the continuum (BICs) are protected eigenstates in optical systems with infinite lifetimes. This unique property, which translates in infinite Q factor resonances, makes BICs extremely interesting not only from a fundamental perspective but also for various applications such as lasing and sensing. General means to achieve robust BICs are, however, elusive. Here we demonstrate analytically that BICs emerge in metasurfaces formed by arrays of detuned resonant dipolar dimers as a universal behavior occurring regardless of both dipole position within the unit cell and lattice constant in the nondiffracting regime. These resonances evolve continuously from a Fano resonance into a symmetry protected BIC as the dipole detuning vanishes. We have experimentally verified this very robust response at terahertz frequencies through dimer rod arrays with different rod sizes by simultaneously measuring the reduction of linewidth and the increase of lifetime before the BIC is formed, as it is impossible to couple to it from the continuum. Similar configurations can be straightforwardly envisioned throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, enabling a simple geometry that is easy to fabricate with resonances of arbitrarily high Q factors.
author_names: Diego Romero Abujetas

Niels van Hoof

Stan Ter Huurne

Jaime Gomez Rivas

Jose A Sanchez-Gil
title: Spectral and temporal evidence of robust photonic bound states in the continuum on terahertz metasurfaces
venue: Optica
year: 2019

abstract: Photonic bound states in the continuum (BICs) are protected eigenstates in optical systems with infinite lifetimes. This unique property, which translates in infinite Q factor resonances, makes BICs extremely interesting not only from a fundamental perspective but also for various applications such as lasing and sensing. General means to achieve robust BICs are, however, elusive. Here we demonstrate analytically that BICs emerge in metasurfaces formed by arrays of detuned resonant dipolar dimers as a universal behavior occurring regardless of both dipole position within the unit cell and lattice constant in the nondiffracting regime. These resonances evolve continuously from a Fano resonance into a symmetry protected BIC as the dipole detuning vanishes. We have experimentally verified this very robust response at terahertz frequencies through dimer rod arrays with different rod sizes by simultaneously measuring the reduction of linewidth and the increase of lifetime before the BIC is formed, as it is impossible to couple to it from the continuum. Similar configurations can be straightforwardly envisioned throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, enabling a simple geometry that is easy to fabricate with resonances of arbitrarily high Q factors.
author_names: Diego Romero Abujetas

Niels van Hoof

Stan ter Huurne

Jaime Gomez Rivas

Jose A Sanchez-Gil
title: Spectral and temporal evidence of robust photonic bound states in the continuum on THz metasurfaces
year: 2019

abstract: In conventional materials, Cherenkov radiation (CR) due to a moving charged particle is associated with a broad frequency range and velocity threshold. Here, we show that using a periodic grating structure, which possesses photonic bound states in the continuum (BICs) and quasi BICs, unusual CR can be generated in a very narrow frequency band at a particle velocity below the common threshold. This effect arises from an interesting light amplification process in the BIC structure, which can dramatically improve the efficiencies of evanescent to propagating wave conversion and CR generation. Our results present a mechanism for realizing Cherenkov lasing at low electron velocity and may find applications in compact free electron lasers.
author_names: Yanan Song

Ningxiao Jiang

Liu Liu

Xinhua Hu

Jian Zi
title: Cherenkov Radiation from Photonic Bound States in the Continuum: Towards Compact Free Electron Lasers
year: 2018

abstract: The concept of optical bound states in the continuum (BICs) underpins the existence of strongly localized waves embedded into the radiation spectrum that can enhance the electromagnetic fields in subwavelength photonic structures. Early studies of optical BICs in waveguides and photonic crystals uncovered their topological properties, and the concept of quasi BIC metasurfaces facilitated applications of strong light matter interactions to biosensing, lasing, and low order nonlinear processes. Here we employ BIC empowered dielectric metasurfaces to generate efficiently high optical harmonics up to the 11th order. We optimize a BIC mode for the first few harmonics and observe a transition between perturbative and nonperturbative nonlinear regimes. We also suggest a general strategy for designing subwavelength structures with strong resonances and nonperturbative nonlinearities. Our work bridges the fields of perturbative and nonperturbative nonlinear optics on the subwavelength scale.
author_names: George P Zograf

Kirill L Koshelev

Anastasia S Zalogina

Viacheslav Korolev

Duk-Yong Choi

Michael Zurch

Christian Spielmann

Barry Luther-Davies

Daniil V Kartashov

Sergey V Makarov

Sergey S Kruk

Yuri S Kivshar
title: High harmonic generation from metasurfaces empowered by bound states in the continuum.
year: 2020