Population inversion in Landau-quantized graphene

Abstract

Landau level lasers have the advantage of tunability of the laser frequency by means of the external magnetic field. The crucial prerequisite of such a laser is a population inversion between optically coupled Landau levels. Efficient carrier-carrier and carrier-phonon scattering generally suppresses this effect in conventional materials. Based on microscopic calculations, we predict for the first time the occurrence of a long-lived population inversion in Landau-quantized graphene and reveal the underlying many-particle mechanisms. To guide the experimental demonstration, we present optimal conditions for the observation of a maximal population inversion in terms of experimentally accessible parameters, such as the strength of the magnetic field, pump fluence, temperature, and doping. We reveal that in addition to the tunability of the Landau-level laser frequency, also the polarization of the emitted light can be tuned via gate voltage controlling the doping of the sample.