The new concept opens up new possibilities for the construction of ultra-thin radiation sources / AV Cr
Researchers from the teams of the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the ASCR and the MFF UK have discovered a new way of constructing super-radiant light sources using two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors.
New The method can help solve several fundamental problems faced by the latest laser technology. Super bright light sources are a highly valued commodity today. They are widely used in the latest technologies, including quantum communication, GPS navigation, astronomical instruments, encryption, etc.
This type of light source can be designed using very precise and complex manufacturing processes that allow the placement of atoms or quantum dots in a very precisely designed optical cavity.
Conventional laser light is created by amplifying photons in a set of highly reflective mirrors. However, in this process, heating and subsequent thermal vibrations of the mirrors occur, which cause a change in the size of the cavity limiting the phase of the emitted photons. As a result, this light is spectrally imperfect.
Joint research of teams from the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the ASCR (led by Martin Kalbáč and Martin Hof) and from the Charles University IFF (led by Jana Vejpravová and Petr Němec) led to the development of a completely new approach to the construction of super bright light sources. As a result, the laser beam is significantly narrower and with much less power requirements.
1 + 1 more than 2? In quantum optics, this can be reality
In the proposed concept, the super-radiant source does not rely as a conventional laser on a large population of photons in the laser cavity, but on the synchronized emission of photons in the optically excited 2D material.
Specifically, super radiance arises from the radiant relaxation of excited electron-hole pairs (so-called excitons) in two atomically thin layers of a 2D semiconductor (WSe2) separated by several layers of boron nitride. The study was published in the May issue of Advanced Functional Materials.
“The new concept opens up completely new possibilities for the construction of ultra-thin radiation sources, the wavelength of which can be tuned by the number of layers of 2D semiconductor and boron nitride and external electric and magnetic fields,” concludes Martin Kalbáč from J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry AS CR.
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