Subwavelength lasers

Composite media comprised of a host with amplification and high aspect ratio metallic spheroids exhibit a dielectric resonance which is accompanied by both a gigantic index of refraction and large collective gain. Expressions for the complex index of refraction near this dielectric anomaly are derived for the case of oriented spheroids in an amplifying host. The large index of refraction and gain can be used to satisfy the laser cavity resonance condition in nanoscale subwavelength structures with EH11 transverse modes allowing for the future miniaturization of laser devices. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.