Lasing in III–V microdisk core–TiO 2 shell lasers

Microdisk lasers having a III–V core coated with a TiO2 shell are experimentally studied under optical pumping. Initial core microdisk lasers with a 5–10 μm diameter comprising five layers of InAs/In0.15Ga0.85As quantum dots demonstrate room temperature lasing with excellent characteristics (threshold, quality factor) at the ground state optical transition in the 1.28–1.30 μm spectral range. Deposition of the TiO2 dielectric shell results in a decimation of the whispering gallery modes of the microdisk resonator and, for thicker (>100  nm) shells, in a blueshift of the lasing wavelength. Using numerical analysis, we demonstrate that coating a III–V core microdisk with a high-index shell causes strong penetration of the second and third radial modes into the shell, whereas the first radial mode remains nearly undisturbed. Though optical loss added by the TiO2 dielectric shell is low (it does not exceed 2  cm−1 even for a 250-nm-thick TiO2 layer), mode leakage to the TiO2 results in a decrease in the optical confinement factor and an increase in the threshold pump power. This effect is more pronounced in microlasers of the smallest diameter studied (5 μm). Thus, in addition to other applications, a TiO2 shell can be used for mode selection in microdisk lasers or for selective outcoupling of the emission to the waveguide structure, which requires proper adjustment of the TiO2 shell thickness and microdisk diameter.