1-D nanobeam resonators and lasers

Small-volume and high quality (Q) factor photonic crystal cavities have been known to be a good vehicle for low threshold lasers, high speed modulators, single photon sources and cavity quantum electrodynamics. Recently one-dimensional (1-D) high-Q/V PhC nanobeam cavity was proposed and the compactness and the lightness of the 1-D nanobeam cavity have attracted researchers working on cavity optomechanics and nano-optical devices [8]. A theoretical maximum g-factor of 2.0 × 10⁸ and a modal volume of ~1.4(λn)³ were predicted in this 1-D structure.In this talk, we introduce a new 1-D high-β nanobeam cavity structure whose width is parabolically tapered in order to create a Gaussian-shaped photonic well. The formation of high-β modes is identified near the photonic well region. The smooth parabolic perturbation minimizes scattering losses. The existence of the newly-generated resonant mode is experimentally confirmed through the lasing action of the modes of interest. We also found that the vertical emission characteristics can be controlled by modifying the symmetry of the cavity structure.