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Photonic crystal nanocavity laser with a single quantum dot gain

Masahiro Nomura, Naoto Kumagai, Satoshi Iwamoto, Yasutomo Ota, and Yasuhiko Arakawa

Open Access Open Access

Abstract

We demonstrate a photonic crystal nanocavity laser essentially driven by a self-assembled InAs/GaAs single quantum dot gain. The investigated nanocavities contain only 0.4 quantum dots on an average; an ultra-low density quantum dot sample (1.5 x 108 cm−2) is used so that a single quantum dot can be isolated from the surrounding quantum dots. Laser oscillation begins at a pump power of 42 nW under resonant condition, while the far-detuning conditions require ~145 nW for lasing. This spectral detuning dependence of laser threshold indicates substantial contribution of the single quantum dot to the total gain. Moreover, photon correlation measurements show a distinct transition from anti-bunching to Poissonian via bunching with the increase of the excitation power, which is also an evidence of laser oscillation using the single quantum dot gain.

©2009 Optical Society of America

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Figures (5)
Fig. 1
Fig. 1 (a) Scanning electron micrograph of the PhC nanocavity laser. An atomic force microscope image of an equivalent sample without capping demonstrates that no interference from other quantum dots occurs (lower left inset). The lower right inset depicts the electric field intensity of the cavity mode, showing that photons are strongly confined. (b) PL spectrum measured by a high spectral resolution (~30 pm) setup at a pump power of ~90 nW, which is below the laser threshold at this detuning. A Voigt function was used to estimate the real linewidth of the cavity mode by considering finite spectral resolution of the system. The estimated cavity Q is 24,800 ± 1,000.

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Fig. 2
Fig. 2 (a) Measured PL spectrum of the coupled exciton (914.6 nm) and the cavity mode (915.25 nm) at sufficiently high detuning (6K). (b) PL spectra recorded at various detunings for a pump power of 60 nW; x and c denote the exciton and the cavity, respectively.

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Fig. 3
Fig. 3 (a) PL spectra measured under far-detuning (−0.65 nm, blue) and resonant (red) conditions at the excitation power of ~15 nW. (b) L-L plots of the cavity mode under coupled condition. (c) Spectral detuning dependence of laser threshold. Lasing begins at a pump power of 42 nW under resonant condition, while the far-detuning conditions require ~145 nW for lasing. The detuning of the single QD to the cavity mode was carried out by changing the temperature.

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Fig. 4
Fig. 4 Photon correlation measurements for a laser with a single QD under coupling condition. (a) Schematic picture of the optical system used in the measurements. (b)-(d), Photon correlation function g (2)(τ) recorded at below (0.34 P th), near (1.35 P th), and above (9.3 P th) the laser threshold (P th = 42 nW) under the condition of zero detuning. The photon statistics changes from anti-bunching (b) to bunching (c) to Poissonian (d) as the pump power is increased. The blue lines in (b) and (c) are fitted curves. Temporal accuracy of the detection system was taken into account.

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Fig. 5
Fig. 5 Photon statistics of a single quantum dot coupled laser. (a), L-L plot on a logarithmic scale with the fitted curve shown in light blue. (b), Photon correlation function ĝ (2)(0) at various pump powers. The horizontal axes of the two panels represent the pump power normalized by P th = 42 nW. The dashed green line ĝ (2)(0) = 1 indicates the photon statistics of coherent light. The change in ĝ (2)(0) clearly shows a transition of the light source from a single photon source to a laser with an enhancement of the intensity noise at the threshold.

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Equations (2)

Equations on this page are rendered with MathJax. Learn more.

g(2)(τ)=1/2πσ2∫−∞∞g^(2)(τ−τ')exp(−τ'2/2σ2)dτ'.
g^(2)(τ)=1−(1−g^2(0))exp(−|τ|/τ0)
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