Lasing in metal-insulator-metal sub-wavelength plasmonic waveguides

Abstract

We demonstrate lasing in Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) waveguides filled with electrically pumped semiconductor cores, with core width dimensions below the diffraction limit. Furthermore these waveguides propagate a transverse magnetic (TM0) or so called gap plasmon mode [1-4]. Hence we show that losses in sub-wavelength MIM waveguides can be overcome to create small plasmon mode lasers at wavelengths near 1500 nm. We also give results showing room temperature lasing in MIM waveguides, with approximately 310 nm wide semiconductor cores which propagate a transverse electric mode.