Lasing condition for trapped modes in subwavelength--wired PT--symmetric resonators

Abstract

The ability to control the laser modes within a subwavelength resonator is of key relevance in modern optoelectronics. This work deals with the theoretical research on optical properties of a PT--symmetric nano--scaled dimer formed by two dielectric wires, one is with loss and the other with gain, wrapped with graphene sheets. We show the existence of two non--radiating trapped modes which transform into radiating modes by increasing the gain--loss parameter. Moreover, these modes reach the lasing condition for suitable values of this parameter, a fact that makes these modes to achieve an ultra high quality factor that is manifested on the response of the structure when it is excited by a plane wave. Unlike other mechanism that transform trapped modes into radiating modes, we show that the variation of gain--loss parameter in the balanced loss--gain structure here studied leads to a variation in the phase difference between induced dipole moments on each wires, without appreciable variation in the modulus of these dipole moments. We provide an approximated method that reproduces the main results provided by the rigorous calculation. Our theoretical findings reveal the possibility to develop unconventional optical devices and structures with enhanced functionality.