Design of tunable microlaser with metal-optical Tamm state structure and liquid crystal

Abstract

The compact tunable single-mode microlaser is designed by combining the metal-optical Tamm state (metal-OTS) structure with the liquid crystal (LC) layer. Structural parameters are discussed for their corresponding effects on the tuning range and bandwidth of the transmission spectrum, etc. A range of 51 nm around 1.55 μm can be tuned as shown by the simulation for LC thickness of 1.4 μm. The calculated lasing characteristics of the LC-metal-OTS structure indicate that it could be promising for use as an electrically-pumped compact light source in the short-reach networks and high-speed communications in silicon-based photonic integrated circuits.