Coreless Fiber‐Based Whispering‐Gallery‐Mode Assisted Lasing from Colloidal Quantum Well Solids

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators are shown to hold great promise to achieve high‐performance lasing using colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) in solution phase. However, the low packing density of such colloidal gain media in the solution phase results in increased lasing thresholds and poor lasing stability in these WGM lasers. To address these issues, here optical gain in colloidal quantum wells (CQWs) is proposed and shown in the form of high‐density close‐packed solid films constructed around a coreless fiber incorporating the resulting whispering gallery modes to induce gain and waveguiding modes of the fiber to funnel and collect light. In this work, a practical method is presented to produce the first CQW‐WGM laser using an optical fiber as the WGM cavity platform operating at low thresholds of ≈188 µJ cm^?2 and ≈1.39 mJ cm^?2 under one‐ and two‐photon absorption pumped, respectively, accompanied with a record low waveguide loss coefficient of ≈7 cm^?1 and a high net modal gain coefficient of ≈485 cm^?1. The spectral characteristics of the proposed CQW‐WGM resonator are supported with a numerical model of full electromagnetic solution. This unique CQW‐WGM cavity architecture offers new opportunities to achieve simple high‐performance optical resonators for colloidal lasers.     

Tuning Dichroic Plasmon Resonance Modes of Gold Nanoparticles in Optical Thin Films

A simple method is presented to tune the gold surface plasmon resonance (SPR) modes by growing anisotropic nanoparticles into transparent SiO₂ thin films prepared by glancing angle deposition. In this type of composite film, the anisotropy of the gold nanoparticles, proved by gracing incidence small angle X‐ray scattering, is determined by the tilted nanocolumnar structure of the SiO₂ host and yields a strong film dichroism evidenced by a change from an intense colored to a nearly transparent aspect depending on light polarization and/or sample orientation. The formation in these films of lithographic non‐dichroic SPR patterns by nanosecond laser writing demonstrates the potentialities of this procedure to develop novel optical encryption or anti‐counterfeiting structures either at micrometer‐ or macroscales.     

Coherently tunable mid-infrared distributed feedback lasers

We propose utilization of quantum interference effects in quantum well structures to tune lasing wavelengths of mid-infrared distributed feedback lasers. The interference effects are generated via interaction of an intense laser field with an n-doped quantum well, causing coherent suppression or enhancement of refractive indexes of the conduction intersubband transitions. We show that these processes allow us to shift lasing wavelength to shorter or longer wavelengths by adjusting the intensity and frequency of the intense laser. This study is done for two types of lasers: 1) an electromagnetically induced distributed feedback intersubband laser formed by embedding a longitudinal corrugation of several periods of the quantum well structure within a waveguide structure and 2) a phase-shifted distributed feedback laser where the quantum well is inserted in the middle of an index grating, forming an active phase shift region. In the former the intense laser field is responsible for generation of optical feedback while shifting the coherently induced stop-band. In the latter, however, this field changes the optical length of the phase shift region, tuning the lasing mode within the stop-band. We show that the amount of the wavelength shift, which can reach 17 nm, is controlled by the intensity of the intense laser. The sign of the tuning process (red or blue shift), however, is decided by the frequency of this field, after proper choice of the corrugation periods. We investigate the optical feedback mechanisms in such coherently tunable lasers and discuss how they are related to an electromagnetically induced transparency process that happens in the conduction intersubband transitions.     

Short‐Wavelength Lasing‐Spasing and Random Spasing with Deeply Subwavelength Thin‐Film Gain Media

Lasing‐spasers are subwavelength‐sized metal/dielectric structures that emit light via stimulated emission of surface plasmons. Here, it is demonstrated that silver nanoparticles combined with deeply subwavelength, blue‐emitting conjugated polymer thin films can function as room‐temperature lasing‐spasers and random spasers with quality factors up to 250. In contrast to other thin‐film‐based spaser and plasmonic random laser studies, which have used gain films ranging from ≈200 nm to 500 nm in thickness and which monitor emission guided to the sample edges, in this study, the thickness of the thin‐film gain medium ranges from 30 nm to 70 nm and emission is collected normal to the plane of the film. This eliminates effects that arise from optical trapping of scattered emission within the gain medium that is typically associated with plasmonic random lasing. The use of the conjugated polymer thin‐film gain medium allows higher chromophore densities compared to organic dye‐doped layers, which enables spasing using deeply subwavelength gain layers. Samples implementing gold nanoparticles and the conjugated polymer gain medium do not exhibit stimulated emission, demonstrating that it is the spectral overlap between the silver nanoparticle's surface plasmon resonance and the gain medium's emission that is necessary for observation of stimulated emission from this material system.     

High Quality Perovskite Crystals for Efficient Film Photodetectors Induced by Hydrolytic Insulating Oxide Substrates

A high quality perovskite film is a key factor in determining the device performance, such as photovoltaic cells, light‐emission diodes, lasers, and photodetectors. Here, a method is presented to improve the crystalline quality of perovskite films on surface‐oxygen‐rich insulating oxide substrates, which can promote the growth of both the polycrystalline and single crystals and enhance the adhesion between the perovskites and the substrates. A much longer carrier diffusion length of exceeding 5 µm together with significantly reduced trap density and nonradiative recombination is achieved for the film. These perovskite films show much better lasing and photodetector performance, indicating promising applications for the light emitting, lasing, and detector devices.     

Generation of low jitter and discrete tunable dual-wavelength optical pulses at arbitrary repetition rates

Recently there is an increasing interest in generatingshort optical pulses with lowti ming jitter and tuneablemulti-wavelength due toitsi mportant applicationin op-tical ti me division multiplexed(OTDM),wavelength di-vision multiplexed(WDM)systems,and opt…     

High-power single-mode ZnO thin-film random lasers

The possibilities to realize high-power single-mode ultraviolet lasing in highly disordered zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films are investigated. An effective one-dimensional time-domain traveling-wave model is developed to simulate random laser action in ZnO thin-film waveguides with ridge structure. Spectral and spatial redistributions of lasing modes, due to lasing mode localization and repulsion, are shown in highly disordered media. Hence, by controlling the photon density distribution, selective excitation of lasing modes can be achieved. A coupled-cavity ZnO thin-film random laser is also proposed to achieve high-power single-mode operation under nonuniform pumping. Preliminary experimental results have verified the possibility to realize high-power single-mode emission by the use of the proposed coupled-cavity design.     

Engineering Symmetry‐Breaking Nanocrescent Arrays for Nanolasing

This paper describes a symmetry‐breaking plasmonic lattice structure that can support narrow resonances as optical feedback for nanolasing. A scalable technique is developed to fabricate nanocrescent arrays with low‐structural symmetry unit cells to achieve in‐plane quadrupolar lattice plasmon modes. These lattice plasmons with extremely narrow linewidths preserve nonzero net dipole moments under normal excitation. Ultrafast band‐edge lasing can be switched on and off by changing the polarization of the incident pump light. The quadrupolar lattice plasmon lasing process is simulated with a semi‐quantum model and the sharp tips on the nanocrescents accelerate the lasing buildup process and enhance stimulated emission.     

Enhancement of amplified spontaneous emission in organic gain media by the metallic film

Metallic films were widely used in many micro-cavities or as electrodes. However, the quenching of fluorescent molecules and the large absorption loss of metallic films are generally considered fatal for the lasing. We report the enhancement of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of organic gain media in planar waveguide structure with metallic film. Compared to the metal-free device, the ASE threshold of device with metallic film is reduced by 3.7 times by introducing the spacer layer between metallic film and organic gain media. It is found that the radiative decay rate, quantum yield of fluorescent molecules and the net gain of media are enhanced by half-cavity effect of Ag film, which lead to the enhanced ASE and lower lasing threshold.     

Metallic Nanowire Coupled CsPbBr3 Quantum Dots Plasmonic Nanolaser

Plasmonic nanolasers provide a valuable opportunity for expanding sub-wavelength applications. Due to the potential of on-chip integration, semiconductor nanowire (NW)-based plasmonic nanolasers that support the waveguide mode attract a high level of interest. To date, perovskite quantum dots (QDs) based plasmonic lasers, especially nanolasers that support plasmonic-waveguide mode, are still a challenge and remain unexplored. Here, metallic NW coupled CsPbBr₃ QDs plasmonic-waveguide lasers are reported. By embedding Ag NWs in QDs film, an evolution from amplified spontaneous emission with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 6.6 nm to localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) supported random lasing is observed. When the pump light is focused on a single Ag NW, a QD-NW coupled plasmonic-waveguide laser with a much narrower emission peak (FWHM = 0.4 nm) is realized on a single Ag NW with the uniform polyvinylpyrrolidone layer. The QDs serve as the gain medium while the Ag NW serves as a resonant cavity and propagating plasmonic lasing modes. Furthermore, by pumping two Ag NWs with different directions, a dual-wavelength lasing switch is realized. The demonstration of metallic NW coupled QDs plasmonic nanolaser would provide an alternative approach for ultrasmall light sources as well as fundamental studies of light matter interactions.     

Switchable Random Laser From Dye-Doped Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal Waveguides

A dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) film has been fabricated for random lasing action. In this PDLC film, the sizes of most liquid crystal (LC) droplets ranged from 200 to 500 nm. When the sample is optically pumped, ultrahigh Q (>10 000) lasing modes and a collimated laser beam can be observed. The threshold of the random laser is shown to be 0.23 mJ/cm². Additionally, a 9.2-V/mum external electric field was applied to control the orientations of LC molecules, thereby obtaining a switchable random laser. Consequently, the linewidth, intensity, and polarization of the emitted random laser are controlled     

Green-emitting organic vertical-cavity laser pumped by InGaN-based laser diode

An organic vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser is demonstrated, which is pumped by an InGaN-based blue laser diode. The vertical-cavity laser structure consists of a poly-N-vinylcarbazole film doped with Coumarin 540A and two Bragg reflectors made of TiO₂/SiO₂ quarter-wave thin films. By driving the pump laser diode with a pulse width of 3.5 ns, singlemode lasing was achieved at a wavelength of 540 nm for a threshold pump power of 137 mW/pulse.     

Low Amplified Spontaneous Emission Threshold from Organic Dyes Based on Bis‐stilbene

Advanced organic laser dyes exhibiting high solubility and bipolar behavior are developed based on a structure combining bis‐stilbene with carbazole (BSBCz). The materials show high photoluminescence quantum yields and large radiative rate constants in solutions, crystals, and blend and neat films. The introduction of alkyl groups significantly improves the solubility of BSBCz, and solution‐processed films of the alkyl‐substituted derivatives exhibit amplified spontaneous emission thresholds as low as 0.59 µJ cm^?2, which is comparable to those of vacuum‐deposited BSBCz films. On the other hand, cyano‐substitution on BSBCz (BSBCz‐CN) increases electron‐accepting properties, resulting in a bathochromic shift of the emission wavelength and improved bipolar behavior. In a BSBCz‐CN‐doped film, a low ASE threshold of 0.63 µJ cm^?2 is achieved, which is one of the lowest values for organic laser dyes with green emission. In addition, organic light‐emitting diodes based on BSBCz‐CN neat films exhibit external quantum efficiencies of 1.8% and could withstand injection of high current densities of up to 500 A cm^?2 under pulse operation. These properties along with low excited‐state absorption cross sections make these materials an outstanding addition to the existing library of organic laser dyes, especially for consideration in electrically pumped lasers.     

Temperature dependent lasing characteristics of InAs/InP(100) quantum dot laser

We report on the lasing characteristics of InAs/InP(100) quantum dots laser through changing the temperature under continuous-wave mode. Three lasing peaks are simultaneously observed at temperature of 80 K and the lasing order of each peak is unrelated with each other when injection current increases. Laser spectra obtained under fixed current for different temperatures show a drastic influence on their shape. A large spectral broadening is observed at low temperature, while the width of lasing spectra gradually narrows when the operating temperature increased. The lasing process of quantum dot laser is obviously different from that of a reference quantum well laser in the same wavelength region. In addition, very high wavelength stability of 0.088 nm/K in the temperature range of 80–300 K is obtained, which is 6.2 times better than that of reference quantum well laser.     

Time‐Resolved Studies of Energy Transfer in Thin Films of Green and Red Fluorescent Proteins

Biologically derived fluorescent proteins are attractive candidates for lasing and sensing due to their excellent optical properties, including their high quantum yield, spectral tunability, and robustness against concentration quenching. Here, a time‐resolved study of the fluorescence dynamics of protein thin films is reported for the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), the red‐emitting tandem‐dimer protein tdTomato, and blends of EGFP and tdTomato. The exciton dynamics are characterized by using spectrally and time‐resolved measurements of fluorescence and a threefold reduction in lifetime is observed when going from solution to thin film, down to 1 and 0.6 ns for EGFP and tdTomato, respectively. This finding is attributed to a dipole–dipole nonradiative Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) in solid state. The temporal characteristics of FRET in blended thin films are also studied and increased nonradiative transfer rates are found. Finally, efficient sensitization of a semiconductor surface with a protein thin film is reported. Such a configuration may have important implications for energy harvesting in hybrid organic–inorganic solar cells and other hybrid optoelectronic devices.     

Inhomogeneous gain effects in quantum dot lasers

A comparison of optical and electrical derivative spectroscopy on a dual-state lasing InAs/GaAs quantum dot bilayer device is presented. The junction voltage cannot be described by a quasi-Fermi level separation and only partial clamping above the laser threshold was observed, demonstrating inhomogeneous gain. There is also competition between transverse optical modes which must be taken into account for a full understanding of dual-state lasing     

A multifrequency interband two-cascade laser

Multifrequency lasing in a new class of injection heterolasers, i.e., in an interband two-cascade laser with a tunneling p-n junction separating two active regions of quantum wells located in the same waveguide is obtained and studied. The developed laser structure with pulsed pumping provided the simultaneous emission of two first-order modes with the wavelengths of 1.063 and 0.98 μm and two third-order modes with the wavelengths of 0.951 and 0.894 μm. Due to nonlinear mixing of the modes within the laser cavity, the generation of the second harmonics and sum frequencies was observed.     

GaN基蓝紫光激光器的材料生长和器件研制

报道了国内首次研制成功的GaN基蓝紫光激光器的材料外延生长、器件工艺和特性.用MOCVD生长了高质量的GaN及其量子阱异质结材料,以及异质结分别限制量子阱激光器结构材料.GaN材料的X射线双晶衍射摇摆曲线(0002)对称衍射和(10(-1)2)斜对称衍射半宽分别为180″和185″;3μm厚GaN薄膜室温电子迁移率达到850cm2/(V·s).基于以上材料,分别成功研制了室温脉冲激射增益波导和脊型波导激光器,阈值电流密度分别为50和5kA/cm2,激光发射波长为405.9nm,脊型波导结构激光器输出光功率大于100mW.     

Increased conversion efficiency in cadmium telluride photovoltaics by luminescent downshifting with quantum dot/poly(methyl methacrylate) films

Commercially available quantum dots have been encapsulated in a poly(methyl methacrylate) film and used as a luminescent downshifting layer on cadmium sulfide/cadmium telluride photovoltaic devices. Application of these films has resulted in a relative improvement to the short‐circuit current of over 4% by I–V measurement, with a significant increase in the contribution of short‐wavelength light resulting in 25% of the current available in this part of the spectrum being captured. The films have been shown to be highly scattering and the associated difficulties this provides to external quantum efficiency measurements have been discussed. A range of optical characterisation techniques, particularly laser beam induced current, have been used to probe the effect the films have on a cadmium sulfide/cadmium telluride device. An alternate methodology for performing external quantum efficiency measurements with the quantum dot films has been proposed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tunable Near‐Infrared Organic Nanowire Nanolasers

Organic semiconductor nanowires have inherent advantages, such as amenability to low‐cost, low‐temperature processing, and inherent four‐level energy systems, which will significantly contribute to the organic solid‐state lasers (OSSLs) and miniaturized laser devices. However, the realization of near‐infrared (NIR) organic nanowire lasers is always a big challenge due to the difficultly in fabrication of organic nanowires with diameters of ≈100 nm and material issues such as low photoluminescence quantum efficiency in the red‐NIR region. What is more, the achievement of wavelength‐tunable OSSLs has also encountered enormous challenge. This study first demonstrates the 720 nm NIR lasing with a low lasing threshold of ≈1.4 µJ cm^?2 from the organic single‐crystalline nanowires, which are self‐assembled from small organic molecules of (E )‐3‐(4‐(dimethylamino)‐2‐methoxyphenyl)‐1‐(1‐hydroxynaphthalen‐2‐yl)prop‐2‐en‐1‐one through a facile solution‐phase growth method. Notably, these individual nanowires' Fabry–Pérot cavity can alternatively provide the red‐NIR lasing action at 660 or 720 nm from the 0–1 or 0–2 radiative transition channels, and the single (660 or 720 nm)/dual‐wavelength (660 and 720 nm) laser action can be achieved by modulating the length of these organic nanowires due to the intrinsic self‐absorption. These easily‐fabricated organic nanowires are natural laser sources, which offer considerable promise for coherent light devices integrated on the optics microchip.