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  • Review Article
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Photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers

Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering volume 1, pages 802–814 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

High-performance lasers are important to realize a range of applications including smart mobility and smart manufacturing, for example, through their uses in key technologies such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and laser processing. However, existing lasers have a number of performance limitations that hinder their practical use. For example, conventional semiconductor lasers are associated with low brightness and low functionality, even though they are compact and highly efficient. Conventional semiconductor lasers therefore require external optics and mechanical elements for reshaping and scanning of emitted beams, resulting in large, complicated systems for various practical uses. Furthermore, even with such external elements, the brightness of these lasers cannot be sufficiently increased for use in laser processing. Similarly, gas and solid-state lasers, while having high-brightness, are also large and complicated. Photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs) boast both high brightness and high functionality while maintaining the merits of semiconductor lasers, and thus PCSELs are solutions to the issues of existing laser technologies. In this Review, we discuss recent progress of PCSELs towards high-brightness and high-functionality operations. We then elaborate on new trends such as short-pulse and short-wavelength operations as well as the combination with machine learning and quantum technologies. Finally, we outline future research directions of PCSELs with regard to various applications, including not only LiDAR and laser processing, as described above, but also communications, mobile technologies, and even aerospace and laser fusion.

Key points

  • In view of growing interest in realizing a smart society, represented by smart mobility and smart manufacturing, laser technology will become a key enabler along with the latest digital technologies.

  • Conventional semiconductor lasers, renowned for their compactness, low cost and high efficiency, lack the brightness and functionality required for smart mobility and smart manufacturing applications.

  • Photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs) have potential to achieve the required brightness and functionality while retaining the advantages of semiconductor lasers.

  • PCSELs show high-brightness operation at 1-GW cm−2 sr−1, rivalling that of existing bulky lasers, and various functionalities, including electronic 2D beam scanning and the generation of arbitrarily shaped beams.

  • PCSELs realize short-pulse, high-peak-power operation, short-wavelength operation and on-chip lasing-mode control using machine learning.

  • PCSELs are expected to be used for smart mobility and manufacturing as well as communications, mobile technology, medicine, biology, and even aerospace and laser fusion in the future.

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Fig. 1: Structure and lasing principles of PCSELs.
Fig. 2: High-brightness PCSELs.
Fig. 3: Arbitrary beam-pattern control in PCSELs based on the concept of ‘modulated photonic crystals’.
Fig. 4: Short-pulse and short-wavelength operation of PCSELs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank various collaborating companies of Kyoto University on PCSELs through the Center of Excellence for PCSELs. This work was partially supported by the project of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation; the Cross Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) and Program for Bridging the Gap between R&D and the Ideal Society (Society 5.0) and Gathering Economic and Social Value (BRIDGE). The work was also partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (22H04915) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and by project JPNP22007 of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Science and Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Susumu Noda & Masahiro Yoshida

  2. Photonics and Electronics Science and Engineering Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Susumu Noda, Takuya Inoue, Menaka De Zoysa, Kenji Ishizaki & Ryoichi Sakata

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S.N. planned the structure of this article and each author (S.N., T.I., M.Y., R.S., M.D.Z. and K.I.) wrote an individual section. S.N. edited the article to ensure that the individual sections were mutually consistent.

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Correspondence to Susumu Noda.

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Noda, S., Yoshida, M., Inoue, T. et al. Photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers. Nat Rev Electr Eng 1, 802–814 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44287-024-00113-x

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