Semiconductor nanowire plasmonic lasers

Semiconductor nanowires (NW) hold great promise for micro/nanolasers owing to their naturally formed resonant microcavity, tightly confined electromagnetic field, and outstanding capability of integration with planar waveguide for on-chip optoelectronic applications. However, constrained by the optical diffraction limit, the dimension of semiconductor lasers cannot be smaller than half the optical wavelength in free space, typically several hundreds of nanometers. Semiconductor NW plasmonic lasers provide a solution to break this limitation and realize deep sub-wavelength light sources. In this review, we summarize the advances of semiconductor NW plasmonic lasers since their first demonstration in 2009. First of all, we briefly look into the fabrication and physical/chemical properties of semiconductor NWs. Next, we discuss the fundamentals of surface plasmons as well as the recent progress in semiconductor NW plasmonic lasers from the aspects of multicolor realization, threshold reduction, ultrafast modulation, and electrically driven operations, along with their applications in sensing and integrated optics. Finally, we provide insights into bright perspectives and remaining challenges.