Brillouin lasers in a graphene microresonator for multispecies and individual gas molecule detection
Ning An,
Yiwei Li,
Hao Zhang,
Yupei Liang,
Teng Tan,
Yongzheng Guo,
Zihan Liu,
Mingyu Liu,
Yanhong Guo,
Yu Wu,
Bo Peng,
Yunjiang Rao,
Guangming Zhao,
Baicheng Yao
Affiliations
Ning An
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Yiwei Li
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Hao Zhang
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Yupei Liang
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Teng Tan
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Yongzheng Guo
State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Film and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Zihan Liu
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Mingyu Liu
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Yanhong Guo
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Yu Wu
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Bo Peng
State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Film and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Yunjiang Rao
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Guangming Zhao
Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100083, China
Baicheng Yao
Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Sensing and Communications (Education Ministry of China), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Optical microcavities offer a promising platform for highly efficient light–matter interactions. Recently, the combination of microresonators and 2D materials in nanoscale has further enriched the optoelectronics of the microcavity geometries, spurring broad advances ranging from lasers, nonlinear converters, modulators to sensors. Here, we report the concept of a Brillouin laser sensor, by depositing graphene on an over-modal microsphere. Driven by a single continuous-wave pump at 1550 nm, multiple Brillouin lasers from distinct mode families are co-generated in a single device. The Brillouin lasers excited in the high Q cavity produce heterodyne beating notes with phase noise down to −161 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset, not only enabling label-freely identifiable detection of multispecies gas molecules adsorbed on the graphene in situ but also rendering it possible to trace individual molecules. Such a combination of graphene optoelectronics and Brillouin lasers in microcavities demonstrates a novel physical paradigm and offers insights into powerful tools for fast and precise optical sensing.
