Spectral singularities and tunable slab lasers with 2D material coating

Abstract

We investigate linear and nonlinear spectral singularities in the transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes of a slab laser consisting of an active planar slab sandwiched between a pair of graphene or Weyl semimetal thin sheets. The requirement of the presence of linear spectral singularities gives the laser threshold condition while the existence of nonlinear spectral singularities due to an induced weak Kerr nonlinearity allows for computing the laser output intensity in the vicinity of the threshold. The presence of the graphene and Weyl semimetal sheets introduces additional physical parameters that we can use to tune the output intensity of the laser. We provide a comprehensive study of this phenomenon and report peculiarities of lasing in the transverse magnetic (TM) modes of the slab with Weyl semimetal coatings. In particular, we reveal the existence of a critical angle such that no lasing seems possible for TM modes of the slab with the smaller emission angle. Our results suggest that for TM modes with an emission angle slightly exceeding the critical angle, the laser output intensity becomes highly sensitive to the physical parameters of the coating.