112th CEMS Colloquium

Title

Photonic-Crystal Surface-Emitting Lasers (PCSELs) for Paradigm Shift towards Smart Society 5.0

Abstract

Semiconductor lasers have contributed to modern society over a wide range of fields, particularly tele- and data-communications and optical storage. To date, much interest has been devoted toward expanding the utility of semiconductor lasers for these fields by widening their range of accessible wavelengths and improving their modulation speed. On the other hand, with regard to applications to Society 5.0 (represented by Smart Mobility and Smart Manufacturing), where high output power operations are highly demanded, semiconductor lasers have had difficulty in simultaneously achieving high output powers and high beam qualities, and thus are hindered behind bulky lasers such as CO2 lasers and fiber lasers. Moreover, as with many other lasers, semiconductor lasers have not been capable of on-chip beam pattern, polarization, and direction control; these functionalities required the addition of external elements which forfeits the advantage of compactness for which semiconductor lasers are renowned.

Now, with the development of photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs) [1-12], this paradigm is expected to change; PCSELs are currently attracting much attention for their simultaneous achievement of high output power and high beam quality (=high brightness) as well as their exhibition of functionalities that are not easily achievable with other types of lasers, such as polarization and beam-pattern control as well as on-chip beam-direction control.

In this presentation, after an explanation of operation mechanism of PCSELs as well as overview of their history, the recent progresses of PCSELs are described, particularly based on newly developed photonic crystals, so called “double-lattice photonic crystals” [8,10,12] and “modulated photonic crystals” [9,11]. Their applications to smart mobility and smart manufacturing are also discussed.

References
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