Nonlinear dynamics in photonic crystal nanocavity lasers

The fabrication of nanolasers in photonic crystal cavities, which have large Purcell factors and a predominant coupling to the cavity laser mode is essential. Here, we quantify the coupling strength needed for coherent coupling of the laser cavities when taking into account detuning effects and show that the systems display rich nonlinear dynamics. We model the coupling effects using a tight-binding approach by adding phase-dependent coupling terms to the laser rate equations, which are derived from coupled mode theory are solved numerically in the time-domain and the steady-state solutions. Our model predicts an additional, lower bound on the phase-locking regime for detuned systems, which is explained as the minimum coupling strength at which the coupling terms can counteract the detuning effects..