  Semiconductor lasers in use today rely on mirrors based on the reflection at
a cleaved facet or Bragg reflection from a periodic stack of layers. Here, we
demonstrate an ultra-small laser with a mirror based on the Fano resonance
between a continuum of waveguide modes and the discrete resonance of a
nanocavity. The Fano resonance leads to unique laser characteristics. Since the
Fano mirror is very narrow-band compared to conventional lasers, the laser is
single-mode and in particular, it can be modulated via the mirror. We show,
experimentally and theoretically, that nonlinearities in the mirror may even
promote the generation of a self-sustained train of pulses at gigahertz
frequencies, an effect that was previously only observed in macroscopic lasers.
Such a source is of interest for a number of applications within integrated
photonics.
