Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes

Quantum cascade lasers are compact, electrically pumped light sources in the technologically important mid-infrared and terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum1,2. Recently, the concept of topology3 has been expanded from condensed matter physics into photonics4, giving rise to a new type o...

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Main Authors: Zeng, Yongquan, Chattopadhyay, Udvas, Zhu, Bofeng, Qiang, Bo, Li, Jinghao, Jin, Yuhao, Li, Lianhe, Davies, Alexander Giles, Linfield, Edmund Harold, Zhang, Baile, Chong, Yidong, Wang, Qi Jie
Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138755
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1387552023-02-28T19:56:35Z Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes Zeng, Yongquan Chattopadhyay, Udvas Zhu, Bofeng Qiang, Bo Li, Jinghao Jin, Yuhao Li, Lianhe Davies, Alexander Giles Linfield, Edmund Harold Zhang, Baile Chong, Yidong Wang, Qi Jie School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Centre for OptoElectronics and Biophotonics The Photonics Institute Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering Laser Method Topology Quantum cascade lasers are compact, electrically pumped light sources in the technologically important mid-infrared and terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum1,2. Recently, the concept of topology3 has been expanded from condensed matter physics into photonics4, giving rise to a new type of lasing5-8 using topologically protected photonic modes that can efficiently bypass corners and defects4. Previous demonstrations of topological lasers have required an external laser source for optical pumping and have operated in the conventional optical frequency regime5-8. Here we demonstrate an electrically pumped terahertz quantum cascade laser based on topologically protected valley edge states9-11. Unlike topological lasers that rely on large-scale features to impart topological protection, our compact design makes use of the valley degree of freedom in photonic crystals10,11, analogous to two-dimensional gapped valleytronic materials12. Lasing with regularly spaced emission peaks occurs in a sharp-cornered triangular cavity, even if perturbations are introduced into the underlying structure, owing to the existence of topologically protected valley edge states that circulate around the cavity without experiencing localization. We probe the properties of the topological lasing modes by adding different outcouplers to the topological cavity. The laser based on valley edge states may open routes to the practical use of topological protection in electrically driven laser sources. 2020-05-12T07:38:31Z 2020-05-12T07:38:31Z 2020 Journal Article Zeng, Y., Chattopadhyay, U., Zhu, B., Qiang, B., Li, J., Jin, Y., . . . Wang, Q. J. (2020). Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes. Nature, 578(7794), 246–250. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-1981-x 0028-0836 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138755 10.1038/s41586-020-1981-x 32051601 2-s2.0-85079338217 7794 578 246 250 en Nature 10.21979/N9/PECAGQ © 2020 The Author(s). All rights reserved. This paper was published by Springer Nature Limited in Nature and is made available with permission of The Author(s). application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering
Laser Method
Topology
spellingShingle Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering
Laser Method
Topology
Zeng, Yongquan
Chattopadhyay, Udvas
Zhu, Bofeng
Qiang, Bo
Li, Jinghao
Jin, Yuhao
Li, Lianhe
Davies, Alexander Giles
Linfield, Edmund Harold
Zhang, Baile
Chong, Yidong
Wang, Qi Jie
Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes
description Quantum cascade lasers are compact, electrically pumped light sources in the technologically important mid-infrared and terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum1,2. Recently, the concept of topology3 has been expanded from condensed matter physics into photonics4, giving rise to a new type of lasing5-8 using topologically protected photonic modes that can efficiently bypass corners and defects4. Previous demonstrations of topological lasers have required an external laser source for optical pumping and have operated in the conventional optical frequency regime5-8. Here we demonstrate an electrically pumped terahertz quantum cascade laser based on topologically protected valley edge states9-11. Unlike topological lasers that rely on large-scale features to impart topological protection, our compact design makes use of the valley degree of freedom in photonic crystals10,11, analogous to two-dimensional gapped valleytronic materials12. Lasing with regularly spaced emission peaks occurs in a sharp-cornered triangular cavity, even if perturbations are introduced into the underlying structure, owing to the existence of topologically protected valley edge states that circulate around the cavity without experiencing localization. We probe the properties of the topological lasing modes by adding different outcouplers to the topological cavity. The laser based on valley edge states may open routes to the practical use of topological protection in electrically driven laser sources.
author2 School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
author_facet School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Zeng, Yongquan
Chattopadhyay, Udvas
Zhu, Bofeng
Qiang, Bo
Li, Jinghao
Jin, Yuhao
Li, Lianhe
Davies, Alexander Giles
Linfield, Edmund Harold
Zhang, Baile
Chong, Yidong
Wang, Qi Jie
format Article
author Zeng, Yongquan
Chattopadhyay, Udvas
Zhu, Bofeng
Qiang, Bo
Li, Jinghao
Jin, Yuhao
Li, Lianhe
Davies, Alexander Giles
Linfield, Edmund Harold
Zhang, Baile
Chong, Yidong
Wang, Qi Jie
author_sort Zeng, Yongquan
title Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes
title_short Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes
title_full Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes
title_fullStr Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes
title_full_unstemmed Electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes
title_sort electrically pumped topological laser with valley edge modes
publishDate 2020
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138755
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