Ultralow-threshold, continuous-wave upconverting lasing from subwavelength plasmons

Fernandez-Bravo, Angel; Wang, Danqing; Barnard, Edward S.; Teitelboim, Ayelet; Tajon, Cheryl; Guan, Jun; Schatz, George C.; Cohen, Bruce E.; Chan, Emory M.; Schuck, P. James; Odom, Teri W.

doi:10.1038/s41563-019-0482-5

Title: Ultralow-threshold, continuous-wave upconverting lasing from subwavelength plasmons

Journal Article · 23 September 2019 · Nature Materials

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0482-5 · OSTI ID:1601211

Fernandez-Bravo, Angel ^[1];

^[2];

^[1]; Teitelboim, Ayelet ^[1]; Tajon, Cheryl ^[1];

^[2]; Schatz, George C. ^[3];

^[1];

^[4];

^[5]

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Molecular Foundry
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Graduate Program in Applied Physics
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Graduate Program in Applied Physics and Dept. of Chemistry
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Molecular Foundry; Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Graduate Program in Applied Physics, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, and Dept. of Chemistry

Miniaturized lasers are an emerging platform for generating coherent light for quantum photonics, in vivo cellular imaging, solid-state lighting and fast three-dimensional sensing in smartphones. Continuous-wave lasing at room temperature is critical for integration with opto-electronic devices and optimal modulation of optical interactions. Plasmonic nanocavities integrated with gain can generate coherent light at subwavelength scales, beyond the diffraction limit that constrains mode volumes in dielectric cavities such as semiconducting nanowires. However, insufficient gain with respect to losses and thermal instabilities in nanocavities has limited all nanoscale lasers to pulsed pump sources and/or low-temperature operation. Here, we show continuous-wave upconverting lasing at room temperature with record-low thresholds and high photostability from subwavelength plasmons. We achieve selective, single-mode lasing from Yb³⁺/Er³⁺-co-doped upconverting nanoparticles conformally coated on Ag nanopillar arrays that support a single, sharp lattice plasmon cavity mode and greater than wavelength λ/20 field confinement in the vertical dimension. The intense electromagnetic near-fields localized in the vicinity of the nanopillars result in a threshold of 70 W cm^-2, orders of magnitude lower than other small lasers. Our plasmon-nanoarray upconverting lasers provide directional, ultra-stable output at visible frequencies under near-infrared pumping, even after six hours of constant operation, which offers prospects in previously unrealizable applications of coherent nanoscale light.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1601211

Journal Information:: Nature Materials, Vol. 18, Issue 11; ISSN 1476-1122

Publisher:: Springer Nature - Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 134 works

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Lasing under ultralow pumping Ma, Ren-Min Nature Materials, Vol. 18, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0513-2	journal	October 2019

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