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Development Challenges of Microlasers
Ring microlasers are potential light sources for photonic applications, but several challenges remain. For example, connecting multiple fiber lasers into a set may produce unwanted additional modes. Modern fiber laser technology enables the creation of chip-sized single-mode lasers.
Developing a single-mode chip-sized laser requires making fiber lasers stronger, smaller, and more stable. A research team from the USA recently designed two-dimensional arrays of microlasers with single-mode stability, achieving higher power density than previously reported.
Coherence and Stability Requirements
The fiber lasers must be coherent and stable to preserve data processed by photonic devices. Single-mode lasers provide optimal coherence, but their combined output is weaker than that of multimode lasers. To produce high-power multimode output, multiple single-mode lasers must be combined; however, mode competition reduces the coherence of the fiber laser array.
Supersymmetry in Fiber Laser Arrays
Achieving single-mode operation is critical because the brightness of a fiber laser array increases with the number of lasers when they operate synchronously in a single supermode. Researchers concluded that single-mode operation can be realized by introducing a “superpartner” based on the concept of supersymmetry.
Two-Dimensional Microlaser Arrays
According to the research team, previous studies using the superpartner fiber laser array principle were limited to one dimension. The current system demonstrates a two-dimensional array with five rows and five columns of microlasers. The team predicts that higher power scaling can be achieved using the same principle for larger arrays.
Applications of Single-Mode Lasers
This approach can also be applied to vortex lasers, which allow precise control of the laser beam and its spiral motion. Controlling laser beams in this way may enable encoding fiber laser systems at higher densities.
Single-mode lasers have a wide range of applications, from optical sensing to optical communications. This research contributes to the development of more efficient laser modules.