title: Generation of quasi-coherent cylindrical vector beams by leaky mirrorless laser.
abstract: We demonstrate that cylindrical vector beams with radial and azimuthal polarization states can be generated by leaky emission from photoexcited molecules embedded in slab-optical-waveguides which are formed on thin metal films on glass. Mirrorless lasing action in the optical waveguide leads to an order-of-magnitude collapse of the emission energy bandwidth and an emission directionality enhancement exceeding three-fold. This leads to the creation of fine rings of quasi-coherent light with radial and azimuthal polarizations. We study the effect of the leakage loss on the amplified spontaneous emission process and on the photon yield. We find a critical value of metal film thickness for the observation of mirrorless lasing action and optimal values for enhancing photon extraction.
authors.affiliation: Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. tellenbogen@tauex.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Tal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ellenbogen
authors.forename: Dongxing
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Kenneth B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Crozier
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007834:Lasers; D007909:Lenses; D008962:Models, Theoretical