Lasing in optimized two-dimensional iron-nail-shaped rod photonic crystals

We demonstrated lasing at the Gamma-point band-edge (BE) modes in optimized two-dimensional iron-nail-shaped rod photonic crystals by optical pulse pumping at room temperature. As the radius of the rod increased quadratically toward the edge of the pattern, the quality factor of the Gamma-point BE mode increased up to three times, and the modal volume decreased to 56% compared with the values of the original Gamma-point BE mode because of the reduction of the optical loss in the horizontal direction. Single-mode lasing from an optimized iron-nail-shaped rod array with an InGaAsP multiple quantum well embedded in the nail heads was observed at a low threshold pump power of 160 mu W. Real-image-based numerical simulations showed that the lasing actions originated from the optimized Gamma-point BE mode and agreed well with the measurement results, including the lasing polarization, wavelength, and near-field image. (C) 2016 Author(s).