title: Plasmon-Assisted Nd(3+)-Based Solid-State Nanolaser.
abstract: Solid-state lasers constitute essential tools in a variety of scientific and technological areas, being available in many different designs. However, although nanolasing has been successfully achieved for dyes and semiconductor gain media associated with plasmonic structures, the operation of solid-state lasers beyond the diffraction limit has not been reported yet. Here, we demonstrate room temperature laser action with subwavelength confinement in a Nd(3+)-based solid-state laser by means of the localized surface plasmon resonances supported by chains of metallic nanoparticles. We show a 50% reduction of the pump power at threshold and a remarkable 15-fold improvement of the slope efficiency with respect to the bulk laser operation. The results can be extended to the large diversity of solid-state lasers with the subsequent impact on their applications.
authors.affiliation: Departamento Física de Materiales and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.affiliation: Departamento Física de Materiales and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yraola
authors.affiliation: Departamento Física de Materiales and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Mariola O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Center for Materials Physics (CSIC-UPV/EHU) and Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Paseo Manuel Lardizabal 4, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tserkezis
authors.affiliation: Departamento Física de Materiales and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Plaza
authors.affiliation: Center for Materials Physics (CSIC-UPV/EHU) and Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Paseo Manuel Lardizabal 4, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aizpurua
authors.affiliation: Departamento Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bravo-Abad
authors.affiliation: Departamento Física de Materiales and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Luisa E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Bausá
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009354:Neodymium / Q000737:chemistry; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance
chemical_list: D009354:Neodymium; D006046:Gold
keywords: Nd3+; chains of Ag nanoparticles; plasmonic nanolaser; solid-state laser