Low-voltage-tunable nanobeam lasers immersed in liquid crystals

Abstract

A low-voltage-tunable one-dimensional nanobeam laser is realized by employing lithographically defined lateral electrodes. An InGaAsP nanobeam with a sub-micrometer width is transfer-printed in the middle of two electrodes using a polydimethylsiloxane stamp. Spectral tuning is achieved by controlling the molecular alignment of the surrounding liquid crystals (LCs). From mu m-scale-gap structures, a total wavelength shift that exceed 6 nm is observed at a low voltage of less than 10 V. A measured spectral tuning rate of 0.87 nm/V, which is the largest value ever reported to our knowledge among LC-tuned photonic crystal lasers, was also noted.