Tunable whispering gallery modes lasing in dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal microdroplets

This paper reports the observation of optically pumped whispering gallery mode (WGM) lasing emission from dye-doped emulsion microdroplets of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) suspended in an immiscible aqueous environment. The higher index contrast between the immersion liquid and CLC microdroplet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2016-12, Vol.109 (23)
Main Authors: Wang, Yan, Li, Hanyang, Zhao, Liyuan, Liu, Yongjun, Liu, Shuangqiang, Yang, Jun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physics
Aqueous environments
Cholesteric liquid crystals
Computer simulation
Dyes
Emission
Lasing
Refractivity
Submerging
Whispering gallery modes
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Summary:This paper reports the observation of optically pumped whispering gallery mode (WGM) lasing emission from dye-doped emulsion microdroplets of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) suspended in an immiscible aqueous environment. The higher index contrast between the immersion liquid and CLC microdroplet contributes to the generation of WGM resonance so that lasing emission can be realized in the CLC microdroplet via total internal reflection. The WGM lasing nature is verified by numerical simulations as well as experiment of size-dependent lasing action. The lasing wavelength depends on the refractive index of the CLC microdroplet and can be tuned by varying the temperature. A tuning range of 9.1 nm within 6 °C temperature interval is realized in a 20-μm-diameter microdroplet. Such a temperature tunable microlaser is promising for applications of flexible photothermic devices.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4971973