Optical antennas have generated much interest in recent years due to their ability to focus optical energy beyond the diffraction limit, benefiting a broad range of applications such as sensitive photodetection, magnetic storage, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. To achieve the maximum field enhancement for an optical antenna, parameters such as the antenna dimensions, loading conditions, and coupling efficiency have been previously studied. Here, we present a framework, based on coupled-mode theory, to achieve maximum field enhancement in optical antennas through optimization of optical antennas’ radiation characteristics. We demonstrate that the optimum condition is achieved when the radiation quality factor (Q rad) of optical antennas is matched to their absorption quality factor (Q abs). We achieve this condition experimentally by fabricating the optical antennas on a dielectric (SiO2) coated ground plane (metal substrate) and controlling the antenna radiation through optimizing the dielectric thickness. The dielectric thickness at which the matching condition occurs is approximately half of the quarter-wavelength thickness, typically used to achieve constructive interference, and leads to ∼20% higher field enhancement relative to a quarter-wavelength thick dielectric layer.

We report on near infrared semiconductor nanopatch lasers with subwavelength-scale physical dimensions (0.019 cubic wavelengths) and effective mode volumes (0.0017 cubic wavelengths). We observe lasing in the two most fundamental optical modes which resemble oscillating electrical and magnetic dipoles. The ultra-small laser volume is achieved with the presence of nanoscale metal patches which suppress electromagnetic radiation into free-space and convert a leaky cavity into a highly-confined subwavelength optical resonator. Such ultra-small lasers with metallodielectric cavities will enable broad applications in data storage, biological sensing, and on-chip optical communication.

We show that the direct modulation bandwidth of nano-cavity light emitting devices (nLEDs) can greatly exceed that of any laser. By performing a detailed analysis, we show that the modulation bandwidth can be increased by the Purcell effect, but that this enhancement occurs only when the device is biased below the lasing threshold. The maximum bandwidth is shown to be inversely proportional to the square root of the modal volume, with sub-wavelength cavities necessary to exceed conventional laser speeds.

Surface plasmons are widely interesting due to their ability to probe nanoscale dimensions. To create coherent plasmons, we demonstrate a nanolaser based on a plasmonic bandgap defect state inside a surface plasmonic crystal. A one-dimensional semiconductor-based plasmonic crystal is engineered to have stopbands in which surface plasmons are prohibited from travelling in the crystalline structure. We then confine surface plasmons using a three-hole defect in the periodic structure. Using conventional III-V semiconductors, we achieve lasing in mode volumes as small as V(eff) = 0.3(λ₀/n)³ at λ₀ = 1342 nm, which is 10 times smaller than similar modes in photonic crystals of the same size. This demonstration should pave the way for achieving engineered nanolasers with deep-subwavelength mode volumes and attractive nanophotonics integration capabilities while enabling the use of plasmonic crystals as an attractive platform for designing plasmons.

Many remarkable semiconductor-based nanolaser cavities using metal have been reported in past few years. However, the efficient coupling of these small cavities to waveguides still remains a large challenge. Here, we show highly efficient coupling of a semiconductor-based metal-clad nanolaser cavity operating in the fundamental dielectric cavity mode to a silicon-on-insulator waveguide. By engineering the effective refractive index and the field distribution of the cavity mode, a coupling efficiency as high as 78% can be achieved for a metal-clad nanolaser with a modal volume of 0.28 (λ/n)³ while maintaining a high optical quality factor of > 600.