Plasmonic gap-mode nanocavities with metallic mirrors in high-index cladding

Abstract

We theoretically analyze plasmonic gap-mode nanocavities covered by a thick cladding layer at telecommunication wavelengths. In the presence of high-index cladding materials such as semiconductors, the first-order hybrid gap mode becomes more promising for lasing than the fundamental one. Still, the significant mirror loss remains the main challenge to lasing. Using silver coatings within a decent thickness range at two end facets, we show that the reflectivity is substantially enhanced above 95 %. At a coating thickness of 50 nm and cavity length of 1.51 mu m, the quality factor is about 150, and the threshold gain is lower than 1500 cm(-1). (C) 2013 Optical Society of America