Modes and associated thresholds of a silver-strip plasmonic nanolaser

Progress in the understanding of the resonance phenomena able to concentrate the electromagnetic-wave power at the nanoscale opens ways to miniaturize various devices important for advanced photonic, optoelectronic and sensing applications. One of such devices is the plasmon-assisted nanolaser. The first demonstration of this effect was published in 2009 in [1], where the lasing was achieved in a random solution of gold nanospheres covered with dye-doped silica shells. Other groups have studied the lasing in periodic arrays of nanoparticles immersed into an active layer [2]. Potential applications of such devices are numerous, and they can include the sensing of refractive index changes, through the measurements of the emission wavelength.