Graphene as gain medium for broadband lasers

Efficient nonradiative carrier recombination strongly counteracts the appearance of optical gain in graphene. Based on a microscopic and fully quantum-mechanical study of the coupled carrier, phonon, and photon dynamics in graphene, we present a strategy to obtain a long-lived gain: Integrating graphene into a high quality photonic crystal nanocavity and applying a high-dielectric substrate suppresses the nonradiative recombination channels and gives rise to pronounced coherent light emission. This suggests the design of graphene-based laser devices covering a broad spectral range