Ultrafast spin-lasers

Abstract

Lasers have both ubiquitous applications and roles as model systems in which non-equilibrium and cooperative phenomena can be elucidated¹. The introduction of novel concepts in laser operation thus has potential to lead to both new applications and fundamental insights². Spintronics³, in which both the spin and the charge of the electron are used, has led to the development of spin-lasers, in which charge-carrier spin and photon spin are exploited. Here we show experimentally that the coupling between carrier spin and light polarization in common semiconductor lasers can enable room-temperature modulation frequencies above 200 gigahertz, exceeding by nearly an order of magnitude the best conventional semiconductor lasers. Surprisingly, this ultrafast operation of the resultant spin-laser relies on a short carrier spin relaxation time and a large anisotropy of the refractive index, both of which are commonly viewed as detrimental in spintronics³ and conventional lasers⁴. Our results overcome the key speed limitations of conventional directly modulated lasers and offer a prospect for the next generation of low-energy ultrafast optical communication.