All-optically controllable random laser based on a dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystal with nano-sized droplets

Low-threshold random lasers enhanced by titanium nitride nanoparticles suspended randomly in gain solutions

In this article, we report a low-threshold random laser enhanced by TiN nanoparticles (NPs) suspended randomly in gain solutions. Results show that the random laser with TiN NPs has a lower threshold than the random laser with TiO₂ NPs and the underlying mechanisms are discussed in detail. The localized surface plasmon resonance of individual TiN NPs increases the pump efficiency and strengthens the fluorescence amplification efficiency of the DCM. The multiple scattering of integral TiN NPs extends the dwelling time of light in random systems, which provides more possibilities for the light amplification in the gain medium. Then, the random laser threshold as a function of the number density of TiN NPs is studied. Results show that the optimum number density of TiN NPs for the lowest-threshold random lasers is about 1.468 × 10¹²ml^-1. When we substitute the ethanol solution with the nematic liquid crystal (NLC), the random laser threshold can be further decreased to 5.11 µJ/pulse, which is about 7.7 times lower than that of DCM dye solution with TiN NPs under the same conditions. These findings provide a cost-effective strategy for the realization of low-threshold random lasers with high-quality.

Polarization-Dependent Gratings Based on Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal Cells with In-Plane Switching Electrodes

A diffraction grating of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) with polarization-selective characteristics is investigated. Electrically controllable gratings are produced using In-Plane Switching (IPS) electrodes. Indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes with a stripe pattern are used to generate a horizontal electric field parallel to the substrate on a single glass substrate. It is known from the experimental results that the number of diffraction orders can be controlled by applied voltage. Except for the zeroth order, the consistently highest intensity can be obtained for every other order of diffraction, and the polarization direction of the diffraction is perpendicular to the direction of the electrode stripes. The polarization direction of the zeroth order diffraction is parallel to the direction of the electrode stripes. Therefore, it can be used as a filter for light polarization.

Organic Solvent Sensors Using Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal Films with a Pillar Pattern

An organic solvent sensor of polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) film is fabricated by a combination of tri-functional monomers and LCs. When the patterned PDLC film comes into contact with the organic solvent, the organic solvent will penetrate into the film to induce the orientation of the liquid crystals, which will change from an ordered to a disordered state, which causes the PDLC film to scatter incident light. The experiment used acetone and ethanol as the organic solvents of interest. The results show that the patterned PDLC film has a stronger response to acetone than to ethanol. Based on the difference in the intensity of light scattering and the response time of the patterned PDLC film to different organic solvents, the results can be used to identify and recognize different types of organic solvents.

Pump-Controlled Plasmonic Random Lasers from Dye-Doped Nematic Liquid Crystals with TiN Nanoparticles in Non-Oriented Cells

Manipulation of the performance of the random lasers from dye-doped nematic liquid crystals with TiN nanoparticles in non-oriented cells is studied. The experimental results show that the introduction of TiN nanoparticles into dye-doped nematic liquid crystals significantly reduces the threshold of random lasing due to the localized surface plasmon resonance of TiN nanoparticles. The emission spectrum of random lasers can be controlled by the shape of the pump spot. The threshold of random lasers increases with the decrease of the length of pump stripe. In order to obtain the emission spectrum with fine discrete sharp peaks, the narrow pump stripe is more effective than the circular pump spot. When the pump area is more like a circle, the emission spectrum is more like an amplified spontaneous emission. The underlying mechanisms of these phenomena are discussed in detail. This study provides a promising platform for designing the high-quality and low-threshold random lasers which can be controlled by the shape of the pump spot.

Magnetically controllable random laser in ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystals

This paper first reports random laser action in dye-doped ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystals, which act as a randomly distributed cavity. The random laser intensity of the ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystals can be controlled by a weak magnetic field (∼1 mT). Moreover, the magnetic switching of random laser is attributed to the direction and polarization dependent emission of light in the ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystals in an external magnetic field.

Random laser imaging of bovine pericardium under the uniaxial tensile test

We demonstrate random laser (RL) emission from within bovine pericardium (BP) tissue. The interest in BP relies on its wide use as a valve replacement and as a biological patch. By imaging the emitting tissue, we show that RL emission is mostly generated inside the collagen fibers. Multimode RL operation is thus achieved within the volume of each fiber. Image analysis reveals that the intensity of the RL emission from individual fibers is dependent on the relative orientation to the stress axis. Our results suggest that RL intensity may be used as an indicator of stress concentration in individual fibers.

Study on the Polarization of Random Lasers from Dye-Doped Nematic Liquid Crystals

Random lasers from dye-doped nematic liquid crystal (DDNLC) cells with different rubbing methods were observed due to different random ring cavities that were formed. Through constructing cells with different rubbing methods on the forward and backward surfaces of light-emitting sides, we can get two random laser beams with different polarization directions from one DDNLC cell at the same time, and the polarization direction is along the rubbing direction of the light-emitting sides. Additionally, the influence of external electric field on the polarization degree of random lasers was also studied.

Plasmonic enhanced low-threshold random lasing from dye-doped nematic liquid crystals with TiN nanoparticles in capillary tubes

We report a plasmonic enhanced low-threshold random lasing from dye-doped nematic liquid crystals with titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles (NPDDNLC) in capillary tubes. The NPDDNLC sample yields a coherent random laser with about 0.3 nm in the full width at half maximum (FWHM). We find the laser threshold is decreased by introducing the TiN NPs into the dye-doped nematic liquid crystal sample. The laser threshold decreases with increasing the number density of TiN nanoparticles from 5.613 × 1010/ml to 5.314 × 1011/ml. We suggest that the low-threshold random laser is caused by the cooperative effect of the recurrent multiple scattering and field enhancement in the vicinity of TiN nanoparticles. The localized electric field near the TiN nanoparticles enhances the energy absorption of the dye and strengthens the fluorescence amplification. Moreover, we provide a new parameter (the relative efficiency of the stimulated radiation photons) to quantify the quality of the random laser, and we give expressions for the wavelength, mode, and whole emission spectrum. Finally, we find the emission spectrum depends strongly on the emission angle and we discuss the reasons. These findings provide a simple and efficient way for the realization of low-threshold random lasers with low cost.

All-optically controllable nanoparticle random laser in a well-aligned laser-dye-doped liquid crystal

This study reports for the first time an all-optically controllable nanoparticle random laser (NPRL) in a well-aligned laser-dye-doped liquid crystal (LDDLC) cell added with NPs and azo-dyes. Experimental results display that the NPRL can be obtained when the pumped energy exceeds the energy threshold (~3.5 μJ/pulse). The occurrence of the NPRL is attributable to the enhancement of the fluorescence by the multi-scattering events of the fluorescence photons from the randomly distributed NPs in the diffusion rout of the well-aligned LDDLC cell. In addition, the lasing intensity of the NPRL can decrease with increasing irradiation time of one UV beam. Continuing irradiation of one green beam following the UV illumination can increasingly recover the lasing intensity of the NPRL. The all-optically reversible controllability of the NPRL is basically attributed to the successive UV-beam-induced increase and green-beam-induced decrease in the randomness of the LDDLC via their interactions with the curved cis and rod-like trans isomers after the accumulation of the trans→cis and cis→trans back isomerizations of the azo-dyes, respectively. The former and latter mechanisms can decrease and increase the laser-dye's absorption and thus the induced spontaneous emission, respectively. These consequences can decrease and increase the lasing intensity, or equivalently, increase and decrease the energy threshold for the occurrence of the NPRL, respectively.

Random lasing from cholesteric liquid crystal microspheres dispersed in glycerol

We demonstrate random lasing from a scattering system formed by a cholesteric liquid crystal dispersed in glycerol. Strong scattering of light is produced from the interference between the cholesteric liquid crystal microsphere and glycerol and leads to random lasing. The optical properties of random lasing, such as intensity, threshold, and the temperature effect on lasing emission are demonstrated. The random laser is distinguished from the band-edge laser generated within the cholesteric liquid crystal microspheres by analyzing the positions of the photonic band-edge of the cholesteric liquid crystal and the photoluminescence of the doped laser dye. The random laser from cholesteric liquid crystal microspheres in glycerol possesses a simple fabrication process, small volume, and low threshold, which enable it to be used in speckle-free imaging, target identification, biomedicine, document coding, and other photonic devices.

Random lasing from granular surface of waveguide with blends of PS and PMMA

Lasing from a planar waveguide with the blend of Polystyrene(PS): Poly-methylmethacrylate(PMMA) doped with tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum(Alq(3)) and 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-tert-butyl-6(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)-4H-pyran(DCJTB) was investigated. Due to phase separation of the blend of PS:PMMA during the solvent evaporation process, a waveguide with granular surface was obtained, which has 2D island-like nanostructures with diameters ranging between 200 and 400 nm and heights at about 25 nm. Pumped by a YAG laser with wavelength of 355 nm, a significant random lasing was observed. Compared to the amplified spontaneous radiation (ASE) of planar waveguides with only PMMA or PS doped with Alq3:DCJTB prepared under the same conditions, the lasing threshold of the former is decreased by about 5 times, and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) is reduced to 1.7 nm from 12~15 nm. Our experiments show a promising method to achieve lower threshold for organic lasers.

Characteristics of color optical shutter with dye-doped polymer network liquid crystal

The optical properties and the theoretical prediction of color optical shutter with dye-doped polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) were investigated. The view-angle dependence of reflectance according to the bias conditions showed distinctive characteristics, which could be explained from the effects of dye absorption and path length. It was also shown that the thickness dependence of reflectance was strongly influenced by the light-scattering coefficient. Our experimental results matched up well with the theoretical prediction based on the light scattering of liquid crystals in polymer network and the absorption of dichroic dye. This work indicates potential to improve the optical device using dye-doped liquid crystal-polymer composite.

Electrically controllable liquid crystal random lasers below the Fréedericksz transition threshold

This investigation elucidates for the first time electrically controllable random lasers below the threshold voltage in dye-doped liquid crystal (DDLC) cells with and without adding an azo-dye. Experimental results show that the lasing intensities and the energy thresholds of the random lasers can be decreased and increased, respectively, by increasing the applied voltage below the Fréedericksz transition threshold. The below-threshold-electric-controllability of the random lasers is attributable to the effective decrease of the spatial fluctuation of the orientational order and thus of the dielectric tensor of LCs by increasing the electric-field-aligned order of LCs below the threshold, thereby increasing the diffusion constant and decreasing the scattering strength of the fluorescence photons in their recurrent multiple scattering. This can result in the decrease in the lasing intensity of the random lasers and the increase in their energy thresholds. Furthermore, the addition of an azo-dye in DDLC cell can induce the range of the working voltage below the threshold for the control of the random laser to reduce.

All-optically controllable random laser based on a dye-doped liquid crystal added with a photoisomerizable dye

This study investigates, for the first time, an all-optically controllable random laser based on a dye-doped liquid crystal (DDLC) cell added with a photoisomerizable dye. Experimental results indicate that the lasing intensity of this random laser can be all-optically controlled to decrease and increase sequentially with a two-step exposure of one UV and then one green beam. All-optically reversible controllability of the random lasing emission is attributed to the isothermal nematic(N)-->isotropic(I) and I-->N phase transitions for LCs due to the UV-beam-induced trans-->cis and green-beam-induced cis-->trans back isomerizations of the photoisomerizable dye, respectively. The former and the latter can decrease and increase the spatial fluctuations of the order and thus of the dielectric tensor of LCs, respectively, subsequently increasing and decreasing the diffusion constant (or transport mean free path), respectively, and thus decaying and rising the scattering strength for the fluorescence photons in their recurrent multi-scattering process, respectively. The consequent decrease and increase of the lasing intensity for the random laser and thus the rise and descent of its energy threshold are generated, respectively.