I-Corps: Ultra-compact, scalable, and steerable electrically-pumped, surface-emitting lasers

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of ultra-compact, scalable and steerable, electrically-pumped surface-emitting lasers for mobility, sensing, and communication. If successful, the proposed laser technology will be able to be scaled into many commercial applications including LiDAR, smartphones (and other consumer electronics), 5G and IoT technologies, medical devices, and other applications that require novel light sources. In addition, the proposed technology also may promote the discovery of applications of novel light sources, and thus promote the progress of photonics. This I-Corps project is based on the development of optical cavities that confine light in unconventional ways. This research focuses on novel lasers based on topology and bound state in continuum. This confinement method for light was inspired by early theoretical works in quantum mechanics. The proposed method may be used to “plug leaky light cavities.” Instead of limiting cavity losses the usual way, by reducing the size and number of passages through which light can escape, the cavity’s design produces destructive interferences. When light is allowed to escape, the multiple waves that do so through different passages end up canceling each other. This mechanism of trapping light in the cavity is based on destructive interference of multiple decay channels intrinsically enabled by functionalities such as tunability, beam steering, and power scaling. The proposed technology may enable applications in mobility, sensing, and communication. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.