Ultrathin, Dynamically Controllable Circularly Polarized Emission Laser Enabled by Resonant Chiral Metasurfaces
Ioannis Katsantonis, Anna C. Tasolamprou, E. N. Economou, Thomas Koschny, Maria Kafesaki
Abstract
We demonstrate a simple, low-cost, and ultracompact chiral resonant metasurface design, which, by strong local coupling to a quantum gain medium (quantum emitters), allows to implement an ultrathin metasurface laser, capable of generating tunable circularly polarized coherent lasing output. According to our detailed numerical investigations, the lasing emission can be transformed from linear to circular and switch from right- to left-handed circularly polarized (CP) not only by altering the metasurface chiral response but also by changing the polarization of a linearly polarized pump wave, thus enabling dynamic lasing-polarization control. Given the increasing interest for CP laser emission, our chiral metasurface laser design proves to be a versatile yet straightforward strategy to generate a strong and tailored CP emission laser, promising great potential for future applications in both photonics and materials science.