I-Corps: Ultra-compact, scalable, and steerable electrically-pumped, surface-emitting lasers

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发用于移动、传感和通信的超紧凑型、可伸缩和可操控的电泵浦表面发射激光器。如果成功，拟议中的激光技术将能够扩展到许多商业应用，包括激光雷达、智能手机(和其他消费电子产品)、5G和物联网技术、医疗设备以及其他需要新光源的应用。此外，这项拟议的技术还可以促进新光源应用的发现，从而促进光子学的进步。这项i-Corps项目是基于以非传统方式限制光的光学腔的开发。本论文的研究重点是基于连续介质中的拓扑结构和束缚态的新型激光器。这种光的限制方法是受到量子力学早期理论工作的启发。提出的方法可以用来“堵住漏光腔”。这种腔体的设计产生了破坏性的干扰，而不是用通常的方法来限制腔体的损耗，即通过减小光线可以通过的通道的大小和数量。当光被允许逃逸时，穿过不同通道的多个波最终会相互抵消。这种在腔体中捕获光的机制基于多个衰变通道的破坏性干涉，这些衰变通道本质上由诸如可调谐、光束操纵和功率调节等功能启用。这项拟议的技术可能会在移动性、传感和通信方面实现应用。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of ultra-compact, scalable and steerable, electrically-pumped surface-emitting lasers for mobility, sensing, and communication. If successful, the proposed laser technology will be able to be scaled into many commercial applications including LiDAR, smartphones (and other consumer electronics), 5G and IoT technologies, medical devices, and other applications that require novel light sources. In addition, the proposed technology also may promote the discovery of applications of novel light sources, and thus promote the progress of photonics.This I-Corps project is based on the development of optical cavities that confine light in unconventional ways. This research focuses on novel lasers based on topology and bound state in continuum. This confinement method for light was inspired by early theoretical works in quantum mechanics. The proposed method may be used to “plug leaky light cavities.” Instead of limiting cavity losses the usual way, by reducing the size and number of passages through which light can escape, the cavity’s design produces destructive interferences. When light is allowed to escape, the multiple waves that do so through different passages end up canceling each other. This mechanism of trapping light in the cavity is based on destructive interference of multiple decay channels intrinsically enabled by functionalities such as tunability, beam steering, and power scaling. The proposed technology may enable applications in mobility, sensing, and communication.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.