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A new design for a cavity-free nanolaser has been proposed by physicists at Imperial College London. The design builds on a proposal from the same team earlier this year to reduce the group velocity of light of a particular frequency to exactly zero in a metal–dielectric–metal waveguide. The laser, which has yet to be built, makes use of two such zero-velocity regions, and would achieve population inversion and create a laser beam without the need for an optical cavity. The researchers suggest that the design could have important applications in optical telecommunications and computing, as well as theoretical implications in reconciling the physics of lasers with plasmonics.
* Diagram of how the nanolaser would work: light is trapped in the stopped-light region (curved gold arrows) and this leads to the stimulated emission of light (upward-pointing arrows). The system is pumped by slow light (the large gold arrow) and the laser is confined to a region denoted by h and w, where the group velocity of the light (Vg) is zero. (Courtesy: A Freddie Page and O Hess/Imperial College)
Physics World: New plasmonic nanolaser is cavity-free, Tim Wogan
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