2015/12/14 by Andrea Marini, F. Javier García de Abajo, Marini, Andrea +2
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Nonlinear Photonic Systems #Optics (physics.optics) #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics #Random lasers and scattering media #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1512.04351
arxiv created 2015/12/14 · openalex publication_date 2015/12/14 · arxiv updated 2015/12/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Manipulating and controlling the optical energy flow inside random media is a research frontier of photonics and the basis of novel laser designs. In particular, light amplification in randomly dispersed active inclusions under external pumping has been extensively investigated, although it still lacks external tunability, reproducibility, and control over the beam spatial pattern, thus hindering its application in practical devices. Here we show that a graphene random metamaterial provides the means to overcome these limitations through its extraordinarily-low threshold for saturable absorption. The nonlinear properties of nano-graphene combined with an optically pumped gain medium allow us to controllably tune the system from chaotic to stable single-mode lasing. Our results hold great potential for the development of single-mode cavity-free lasers with engineered beam patterns in disordered media.