Topological lasers (TLs) have attracted widespread attention due to their mode robustness against perturbations or defects. Among them, electrically pumped TLs have gained extensive research interest due to their advantages of compact size and easy integration. Nevertheless, current studies on electrically pumped TLs reported in the terahertz (THz) wavelength range exhibits relatively low output powers, causing a wide gap between practical applications. Recently, BAQIS made a breakthrough on Terahertz Topological Laser by collaborating with the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences. On May 24, 2024, this achievement was published in Nature Communications titled as ‘High-power electrically pumped terahertz topological laser based on a surface metallic Dirac-vortex cavity'.

We introduced a surface metallic Dirac-vortex cavity (SMDC) design to address the low-power issue for electrically pumped THz TLs. Due to the strong coupling between the SMDC and the active region, robust single mode emission is obtained via the 2D topological protection. More importantly, enough gain and large radiative efficiency provided by the SMDC enhance the surface-emitting output power up to 150 mW, which paves the way to practical application potential of electrically pumped THz TLs.

The paper's co-first authors are Junhong Liu and Yunfei Xu , PhD students from the Institute of Semiconductors. The corresponding authors are Liu Fengqi, Zhang Jinchuan, and Zhai Shenqiang, researchers from the Institute of Semiconductors, as well as BAQIS researcher Quanyong Lu . This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission.

Link to the article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48788-y