Metasurface external cavity laser

A vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting-laser is demonstrated in the terahertz range, which is based upon an amplifying metasurface reflector composed of a sub-wavelength array of antenna-coupled quantum-cascade sub-cavities. Lasing is possible when the metasurface reflector is placed into a low-loss external cavity such that the external cavity-not the sub-cavities-determines the beam properties. A near-Gaussian beam of 4.3 degrees x 5.1 degrees divergence is observed and an output power level > 5mW is achieved. The polarized response of the metasurface allows the use of a wire-grid polarizer as an output coupler that is continuously tunable. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.