We develop a frequency-domain formulation in the form of generalized eigenvalue problems for reciprocal microlasers and nanolasers. While the goal is to explore the resonance properties of dispersive cavities, the starting point of our approach is the mode expansion of arbitrary current sources inside the active regions of lasers. Due to the Lorentz reciprocity, a mode orthogonality relation is present and serves as the basis to distinguish various cavity modes. This scheme can also incorporate the asymmetric Fano lineshape into the emission spectra of cavities. We show how to obtain the important parameters of laser cavities based on this formulation. The proposed approach could be an alternative to other computation schemes such as the finite-difference-time-domain method for reciprocal cavities.
© 2011 Optical Society of America