Authors: Stefan Skalsky, Yunyan Zhang, Juan Arturo Alanis, H. Aruni Fonseka, Ana M. Sanchez, Huiyun Liu, Patrick Parkinson
Published: 2020-03-17
DOI: 10.1038/s41377-020-0279-y
Source: Full article
AbstractContinuous room temperature nanowire lasing from silicon-integrated optoelectronic elements requires careful optimisation of both the lasing cavity Q-factor and population inversion conditions. We apply time-gated optical interferometry to the lasing emission from high-quality GaAsP/GaAs quantum well nanowire laser structures, revealing high Q-factors of 1250 ± 90 corresponding to end-facet reflectivities of R = 0.73 ± 0.02. By using optimised direct–indirect band alignment in the active region, we demonstrate a well-refilling mechanism providing a quasi-four-level system leading to multi-nanosecond lasing and record low room temperature lasing thresholds (~6 μJ cm−2 pulse−1) for III–V nanowire lasers. Our findings demonstrate a highly promising new route towards continuously operating silicon-integrated nanolaser elements.