Abstract-Gain modulation by graphene plasmons in aperiodic lattice lasers

1. S. Chakraborty1,*, 
2. O. P. Marshall1,2, 
3. T. G. Folland1, 
4. Y.-J. Kim2, 
5. A. N. Grigorenko2, 
6. K. S. Novoselov2,*

1. 1School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
2. 2School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.

1. ↵*Corresponding author. E-mail: s.chakraborty@manchester.ac.uk (S.C.); kostya@manchester.ac.uk (K.S.N.)

Science  15 Jan 2016:
Vol. 351, Issue 6270, pp. 246-248
DOI: 10.1126/science.aad2930

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6270/246

Two-dimensional graphene plasmon-based technologies will enable the development of fast, compact, and inexpensive active photonic elements because, unlike plasmons in other materials, graphene plasmons can be tuned via the doping level. Such tuning is harnessed within terahertz quantum cascade lasers to reversibly alter their emission. This is achieved in two key steps: first, by exciting graphene plasmons within an aperiodic lattice laser and, second, by engineering photon lifetimes, linking graphene’s Fermi energy with the round-trip gain. Modal gain and hence laser spectra are highly sensitive to the doping of an integrated, electrically controllable, graphene layer. Demonstration of the integrated graphene plasmon laser principle lays the foundation for a new generation of active, programmable plasmonic metamaterials with major implications across photonics, material sciences, and nanotechnology.