Abstract

Conventional semiconductor laser mirrors are based on Fresnel reflection [1], Bragg reflection [2, 3] or total internal reflection [4]. Here we demonstrate a new laser concept using photonic crystals (PhC), with a mirror based on Fano interference between a waveguide continuum and a discrete resonance of a nanocavity [5]. We show that the very narrowband feature of the Fano resonance [6] can lead to single mode lasing. In addition, when combined with optical nonlinearity, the highly dispersive feature of the Fano resonance can promote self-pulsations at gigahertz frequencies [7], which was previously observed only in macroscopic lasers [8].

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