Lasing from individual GaAs-AlGaAs core-shell nanowires up to room temperature

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 2931
• Main Authors: Mayer, Benedikt, Rudolph, Daniel, Schnell, Joscha, Morkötter, Stefanie, Winnerl, Julia, Treu, Julian, Müller, Kai, Bracher, Gregor, Abstreiter, Gerhard, Koblmüller, Gregor, Finley, Jonathan J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 05.12.2013; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/624/1020; 639/624/1075; 639/624/399/1016; Humanities and Social Sciences; Light sources; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3931

Semiconductor nanowires are widely considered to be the next frontier in the drive towards ultra-small, highly efficient coherent light sources. While NW lasers in the visible and ultraviolet have been widely demonstrated, the major role of surface and Auger recombination has hindered their development in the near infrared. Here we report infrared lasing up to room temperature from individual core-shell GaAs-AlGaAs nanowires. When subject to pulsed optical excitation, NWs exhibit lasing, characterized by single-mode emission at 10 K with a linewidth <60 GHz. The major role of non-radiative surface recombination is obviated by the presence of an AlGaAs shell around the GaAs-active region. Remarkably low threshold pump power densities down to ~760 W cm − 2 are observed at 10 K, with a characteristic temperature of T 0 =109±12 K and lasing operation up to room temperature. Our results show that, by carefully designing the materials composition profile, high-performance infrared NW lasers can be realised using III/V semiconductors. Semiconductor nanowires are of practical interest as some of the smallest laser sources available. Here Mayer et al. demonstrate GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowire lasers at infrared wavelengths that operate up to room temperature.