Ultracompact, dynamically controllable circularly polarized laser enabled by chiral metasurfaces

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 ultra-thin 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 changing the metasurface chiral response but also by changing the polarization of a linearly polarized pump wave, providing thus 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 strong and tailored CP emission laser, promising great potential for future applications in both photonics and materials science.