Room Temperature Photonic Crystal Defect Lasers at Near-Infrared Wavelengths in InGaAsP

Room temperature lasing from optically pumped single defects in a two-dimensional (2-D) photonic bandgap (PBG) crystal is demonstrated. The high-Q optical microcavities are formed by etching a triangular array of air holes into a halfwavelength thick multiquantum-well waveguide. Defects in the 2-D photonic crystal are used to support highly localized optical modes with volumes ranging from 2 to 3 ( /2n). Lithographic tuning of the air hole radius and the lattice spacing are used to match the cavity wavelength to the quantum-well gain peak, as well as to increase the cavity Q. The defect lasers were pumped with 10–30 ns pulses of 0.4 1% duty cycle. The threshold pump power was 1.5 mW ( 500 W absorbed).