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Co-existence of strongly and weakly localized random laser modes

Nature Photonics volume 3, pages 279–282 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Recent theoretical work on random lasing predicts that the occurrence of narrow lasing spikes can be caused by both localized and extended modes of light1,2,3. Typical random lasing spikes have been observed in powders of zinc oxide nanoparticles4, but identifying the possible degrees of localization of such modes has until now been an open issue5. In this Letter we present an experimental procedure that directly extracts the area of localization of the modes. This method relies on the investigation of micro-structured fields of zinc oxide powder, which also allows direct correlation to the local structural properties of the ensemble of subwavelength particles by scanning electron microscopy. We find that lasing from both localized and extended modes can be observed simultaneously. Our observation also corroborates the prediction that localized modes have a lower loss rate than that of extended modes5.

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Figure 1: Fluctuations of random lasing in extended samples.
Figure 2: Microscopically defined fields of ZnO nanoparticles.
Figure 3: Spectrally and spatially resolved photoluminescence.
Figure 4: Two-dimensional mode extent.
Figure 5: The experimental set-up.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG) in the framework of project KL345/23-2.

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  1. Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Karlsruhe (TH), Wolfgang-Gaede-Strasse 1, Karlsruhe, 76131, Germany

    Johannes Fallert, Roman J. B. Dietz, Janos Sartor, Daniel Schneider, Claus Klingshirn & Heinz Kalt

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  1. Johannes Fallert
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Correspondence to Johannes Fallert.

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Fallert, J., Dietz, R., Sartor, J. et al. Co-existence of strongly and weakly localized random laser modes. Nature Photon 3, 279–282 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2009.67

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