Collaborative Research: Robust and miniature laser with tailorable single-mode operation range

随着电子集成电路(IC)的出现，社会见证了电子设备前所未有的小型化，导致了极快和小型化的计算机以及许多以前无法想象的应用。遵循类似的趋势，光子器件的小型化承诺了高效的光子IC。高性能光子IC的关键部件是片上激光器。这样的激光器必须同时具有高效率、低能耗、运行可靠和占用空间小的特点，才能与其余的光子电路甚至电子IC兼容。然而，现有的片上激光器和一般的光子器件对结构缺陷很敏感，随着器件变得更小，结构缺陷变得更加突出。拟议的计划将从理论上研究和实验演示紧凑型芯片上III-V激光器，这种激光器坚固、高效，其单模工作范围可以定制。这些激光器的优异性能源于这样一个事实，即发射受到腔体拓扑的保护。该计划开发的器件将产生一系列拓扑保护激光器，满足下一代激光器对光子IC的几项要求，这将促进电子-光子集成，以及数据通信、信号处理、传感和量子光子学等应用。该项目的教育部分旨在提高公众对光子学的认识，培养合格的学生，以帮助推动美国光子业的发展，并扩大美国光子学领域的劳动力。可靠和高效的片上光产生和传输是现代芯片规模光通信和信息处理技术的核心，导致对下一代片上激光器的探索。在这项合作研究中，将实现克服微型激光器的根本挑战的微型芯片上激光器-同时实现稳健的操作和较小的占地面积。这些激光器具有以下特点：1)运行可靠：激光发射受块体拓扑而不是发射点本身的保护；2)占地面积小：激光器在一维而不是典型的2D中实现；3)可定制的大单模激光范围，以及4)与现有光子IC技术的兼容性：使用合成磁场而不是实际磁场来支持非平凡的体拓扑。这项研究的成功将为密集封装的光子IC确定合适的光源候选，并将不仅导致全功能的光子IC，而且还将导致多功能自适应光子/电子集成系统中光子平面和电子平面之间的连接。从根本上讲，该项目开发的拓扑保护激光器不仅可以用于探测非厄米系统的多维拓扑相图，还将允许探索光子拓扑绝缘体以外的拓扑光子器件的其他奇异相位。该奖项反映了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。

With the advent of electronic integrated circuits (ICs), society has witnessed the unprecedented miniaturization of electronic devices, leading to extremely fast and miniaturized computers as well as many applications that were previously unimaginable. Following a similar trend, the downscaling of photonic devices promises highly efficient photonic ICs. A crucial component in high-performance photonic ICs is an on-chip laser. Such a laser must simultaneously have high efficiency, low energy consumption, robust operation, and a small footprint to be compatible with the rest of the photonic circuitry and even electronic ICs. However, existing on-chip lasers, and photonic devices in general, are sensitive to structural imperfections, which become more prominent as the device becomes smaller. The proposed program will theoretically investigate and experimentally demonstrate compact on-chip III-V lasers that are robust, efficient, and whose single-mode operation range can be tailored. The superior performance of these lasers stems from the fact that the emission is protected by the bulk topology of the cavity. The devices developed in this program will lead to a family of topologically protected lasers that satisfies several requirements of the next-generation lasers for photonic ICs, which will advance electronic-photonic integration, as well as applications such as data communication, signal processing, sensing, and quantum photonics. The educational portion of the program aims to increase public awareness of photonics, pipeline qualified students to help advance the U.S. photonics industry and expand the American workforce in photonics.Robust and efficient on-chip light generation and transport are at the heart of modern chip-scale optical communication and information processing technologies, leading to the search for the next generation of on-chip lasers. In this collaborative research, miniature on-chip lasers that overcome fundamental challenges in miniature lasers – the simultaneous achievement of robust operation and a small footprint – will be realized. These lasers feature 1) robust operation: the laser emission is protected by the topology of the bulk rather than the emitting site itself; 2) small footprint: the laser is realized in 1D rather than the typical 2D; 3) large and tailorable single-mode lasing range, and 4) compatibility with existing photonic IC technologies: a synthetic rather than an actual magnetic field is used to support the non-trivial bulk topology. The success of this research will determine a suitable light source candidate for densely packed photonic ICs, and lead to not only fully functional photonic ICs but also the connectivity between the photonic “plane” and electronic “plane” in multi-functional adaptive photonic/electronic integrated systems. From the fundamental perspective, the topologically protected lasers developed in this project not only can be used to probe the multi-dimensional topological phase diagram of non-Hermitian systems but will also allow the exploration of other exotic phases of topological photonic devices beyond photonic topological insulators.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.