Large-scale statistics for threshold optimization of optically pumped nanowire lasers

Single nanowire lasers based on bottom-up III-V materials have been shown to exhibit room-temperature near-infrared lasing, making them highly promising for use as nanoscale, silicon-integrable and coherent light sources. While lasing behavior is reproducible, small variations in growth conditions across a substrate arising from the use of bottom-up growth techniques can introduce inter-wire disorder, either through geometric or material inhomogeneity. Nanolasers critically depend on both high material quality and tight dimensional tolerances, and as such, lasing threshold is both sensitive to, and a sensitive probe of such inhomogeneity. We present an all-optical characterization technique coupled to statistical analysis to correlate geometrical, and material parameters with lasing threshold. For these multiple-quantum-well nanolasers, it is found that low threshold is closely linked to longer lasing wavelength caused by losses in the core, providing a route to optimized future low-threshold devices. A best-in-group room temperature lasing threshold of 43 uJcm-2 under pulsed excitation was found, and overall device yields in excess of 50% are measured, demonstrating a promising future for the nanolaser architecture.