Electrically assisted bandedge mode selection of photonic crystal lasing in chiral nematic liquid crystals

Selection of the bandedge lasing mode of a photonic crystal laser has been realized in a fluorescent dye doped chiral nematic liquid crystal by exerting electrical control over the mode competition. The bandedge lasing can be reversibly switched from the short-wavelength edge mode to the long-wavele...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2018-01, Vol.112 (4)
Main Authors: Wang, Chun-Ta, Chen, Chun-Wei, Yang, Tzu-Hsuan, Nys, Inge, Li, Cheng-Chang, Lin, Tsung-Hsien, Neyts, Kristiaan, Beeckman, Jeroen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physics
Cholesteric liquid crystals
Crystal structure
Dipole moments
Dyes
Emission
Fluorescence
Fluorescent dyes
Lasing
Modal choice
Nematic crystals
Order parameters
Photonic crystals
Polarization
Polymers
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Selection of the bandedge lasing mode of a photonic crystal laser has been realized in a fluorescent dye doped chiral nematic liquid crystal by exerting electrical control over the mode competition. The bandedge lasing can be reversibly switched from the short-wavelength edge mode to the long-wavelength edge mode by applying a voltage of only 20 V, without tuning the bandgap. The underlying mechanism is the field-induced change in the order parameter of the fluorescent dye in the liquid crystal. The orientation of the transition dipole moment determines the polarization state of the dye emission, thereby promoting lasing in the bandedge mode that favors the emission polarization. Moreover, the dynamic mode-selection capability is retained upon polymer-stabilizing the chiral nematic liquid crystal laser. In the polymer-stabilized system, greatly improved stability and lasing performance are observed.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.5010880