Super resolution imaging capable of resolving details beyond the diffraction limit is highly desired in many scientific and application fields, including bio-medicine, nanomaterial science, and opto-electronic integration. Up to now, many different methods have been proposed, among which wide-field, label-free super resolution microscopy is indispensable due to its good applicability to diverse sample types, large field of view (FOV), and high imaging speed. In recent years, nanostructures have made a crucial contribution to the wide-field, label-free subdiffraction microscopy, with various working mechanisms and configuration designs. This review summarizes the recent applications of the nanostructures in the wide-field, label-free super resolution microscopy, with the emphasis on the designs of hyperlens with hyperbolic dispersion, microsphere with “nano-jets”, and nanowire ring illumination microscopy based on spatial frequency shift effect. The bottlenecks of the current techniques and possible solutions are also discussed.

The invention of the Internet and mobile devices has caused tremendous changes in human lives over the past two decades. Information technology has broken through limitations of geospatial space, enabling extremely high-speed data transmission and new types of data services. In recent years, demands for data processing have shown an increasing trend. Furthermore, data generated from internet-related applications such as cloud services and self-driving technology are likely to grow exponentially over the coming years. Currently, data transmission inside integrated circuits mainly relies on metal wires. However, the substantial resistive-capacitive delay and energy loss that are caused by metal wires limit data transmission speeds. Optical interconnection has been regarded as a major solution to efficiently reduce energy consumption and increase data transmission speeds. The size of conventional semiconductor laser devices, which are the key component in optical interconnection, cannot be smaller than the wavelength of light, which is a fundamental physical obstacle to lasers integrating with current electronic integrated circuits in reasonable volumes. To realize optical interconnection, the volume of the laser device must match the existing electronic components. Recently, the use of diffraction-unlimited plasmonic lasers has been successfully demonstrated, and these have great potential in different applications. In this paper, we discuss the recent progress toward surface plasmon polariton lasers and provide practical insights into the challenges in realizing these novel devices.

Metal halide perovskites have been regarded as remarkable materials for next-generation light-harvesting and light emission devices. Due to their unique optical properties, such as high absorption coefficient, high optical gain, low trapping-state density, and ease of band gap engineering, perovskites promise to be used in lasing devices. In this article, the recent progresses of microlasers based on reduced-dimensional structures including nanoplatelets, nanowires, and quantum dots are reviewed from both fundamental photophysics and device applications. Furthermore, perovskite-based plasmonic nanolasers and polariton lasers are summarized. Perspectives on perovskite-based small lasers are also discussed. This review can serve as an overview and evaluation of state-of-the-art micro/nanolaser science.

In recent years, there have been a significant number of demonstrations of small metallic and plasmonic lasers. The vast majority of these demonstrations have been for optically pumped devices. Electrically pumped devices are advantageous for applications and could demonstrate concepts not amenable for optical pumping. However, there have been relatively few demonstrations of electrically pumped small metal cavity lasers. This lack of results is due to the following reasons:there are limited types of electrically pumped gain media available; there is a significantly greater level of complexity required in the fabrication of electrically pumped devices; finally, the required components for electrical pumping restrict cavity design options and furthermore make it intrinsically more difficult to achieve lasing. This review looks at the motivation for electrically pumped nanolasers, the key issues that need addressing for them to be realized, the results that have been achieved so far including devices where lasing has not been achieved, and potential new directions that could be pursued.

By combing artificial micro-nano structures, photonic crystals (PCs), with traditional semiconductor laser material to realize the dynamic collaborative control of photonic states and confined electrons, the band engineering of the PC has been confirmed. This brings new development space for the semiconductor laser, such as for low threshold and high efficiency. Based on a series of works by Zheng's group, this paper has reviewed kinds of PC lasers including electrical injection PC vertical cavity and lateral cavity surface-emitting lasers, and PC high beam quality lasers, to show that the PC is vital for promoting the continuous improvement of semiconductor laser performance at present and in the future.

Square microcavities, which support whispering-gallery modes with total internal reflections, can be employed as high-quality laser resonators for fabricating compact, low-threshold semiconductor lasers. In this paper, we review the recent progress of square microcavity semiconductor lasers. The characteristics of confined optical modes in the square microcavities are introduced briefly. Based on the mode properties of the square microcavities, dual-mode lasers with tunable wavelength intervals are realized for generating microwave signals. Furthermore, deformed square microcavity lasers with the sidewalls replaced by circular sides are proposed and experimentally demonstrated to enhance the mode confinement and increase the dual-mode interval to the THz range. In order to further reduce the device size, metal-confined wavelength-scale square cavity lasers are also demonstrated.