LASER RESONATORS IN ZNO NANOSTRUCTURES WITH MORPHOLOGY CONTROLLED EMISSION MODES

The paper gives an overview of technological elaborations performed at the Institute of Applied Physics and the Institute of Electronic Engineering and Nanotechnologies “D. Giţu” of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova for the production of ZnO based nanostructures ensuring as high optical quality of the produced nanostructures as to act as gain medium for stimulated emission in the ultraviolet spectral region and as relevant geometrical forms and morphologies as to act as high quality factor laser resonators. It is demonstrated that, due to the possibility of multiple and switchable growth directions of the wurtzite structure and the high ionicity of its polar surfaces, ZnO provides conditions for the formation of a variety of micro/nanostructures which act as laser resonators sustaining guided modes, Fabry–Perot modes, whispering gallery modes, random lasing and a combination of them. The produced structures are expected to fi nd many applications in integrated nanoscale optoelectronics, photonics, and sensor technologies