Plasmonic Nanolasers Enhanced by Hybrid Graphene–Insulator–Metal Structures

Abstract

Graphene is a two-dimensional (2D) structure that creates a linear relationship between energy and momentum that not only forms massless Dirac fermions with extremely high group velocity but also exhibits a broadband transmission from 300 to 2500 nm that can be applied to many optoelectronic applications, such as solar cells, light-emitting devices, touchscreens, ultrafast photodetectors, and lasers. Although the plasmonic resonance of graphene occurs in the terahertz band, graphene can be combined with a noble metal to provide a versatile platform for supporting surface plasmon waves. In this study, we propose a hybrid graphene–insulator–metal (GIM) structure that can modulate the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) dispersion characteristics and thus influence the performance of plasmonic nanolasers. Compared with values obtained when graphene is not used on an Al template, the propagation length of SPP waves can be increased 2-fold, and the threshold of nanolasers is reduced by 50% when graphene is incorporated on the template. The GIM structure can be further applied in the future to realize electrical control or electrical injection of plasmonic devices through graphene.

Hybrid quadrupole plasmon induced spectrally pure ultraviolet emission from a single AgNPs@ZnO:Ga microwire based heterojunction diode

“…Furthermore, due to surface defects and low carrier injection efficiency, nano/microstructures exhibit broadband emissions and inherently low external efficiency, which severely reduce their ability to meet scientic and commercial demands. [14][15][16] When coupled with light at specic photon energies, collective oscillations of conduction electrons in metallic nanostructures can be excited. The spectral properties of these excitations, called plasmons, have attracted widespread scientic and technological interest.…”

Current Modulation of Plasmonic Nanolasers by Breaking Reciprocity on Hybrid Graphene–Insulator–Metal Platforms

“…[ 34–36 ] We propose the design of a graphene–insulator–metal (GIM) platform, as shown in Figure a, and demonstrated that its SPP propagation properties are influenced by graphene. [ 37 ] In the configuration of the GIM platform, when the current is applied to graphene, the plasmon phase velocity can approach the Fermi velocity ( v f = c /300, where c is the speed of light in a vacuum) of the graphene by tuning the insulator thickness in the GIM platform; [ 38 ] therefore, it is possible to generate nonreciprocal SPP waves to realize novel nanophotonic devices. [ 39,40 ]…”

Lasing mode regulation in zinc oxide microcavity

“…ZnO/石墨烯/绝缘层/金属层(GIM)的结构, 可以修正 S P P 色 散 特 性 并 消 除 金 属 固 定 等 离 子 体 特 性 的 限 制 [106] . 由于费米能级的差异, 石墨烯的加入会改变金 [101] .…”

“…(b) 亚波长金属Ag光栅与ZnO纳米棒结合的纳米激光器受激辐射谱, 插图为该激光模式电 场分布图 [103] ; Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society. (c) GIM结构ZnO纳米激光器的原理示意图, 插图为Al基GIM结构的电场分布图; (d) 四种结构的纳米激光器平均阈值图 [106] . Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society Figure 10 (Color online) SPP coupled ZnO nanolaser.…”

“…The insert image shows the electric field distribution of GIM structure with the Al template. (d) Average threshold quarter box chart of four nanolasers [106] . Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society As a short-wave optoelectronic device, ultraviolet (UV) nano laser has a broad prospect in the fields of electronics, information, communication, environmental monitoring and biomedical testing.…”