Open AccessLasing in chiral photonic liquid crystals and associated frequency tuning
Author(s) -
Andy Ying–Guey Fuh,
TsungHsien Lin,
J. H. Liu,
Fu Chiao Wu
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/opex.12.001857
Subject(s) - lasing threshold , materials science , photonic crystal , optics , optoelectronics , cholesteric liquid crystal , planar , liquid crystal , band gap , photonics , physics , wavelength , computer graphics (images) , computer science
This letter addresses a dye-doped planar cholesteric cell as a one-dimensional photonic crystal, which can be lased at the band edges of the photonic band gap. The effect of the composition of the material and the thickness of a cholesteric cell (CLC) on the lasing action, and the photo-control of the lasing frequency, are experimentally investigated. Adding a tunable chiral monomer (TCM) allows the CLC's reflection band to be tuned by varying the intensity and/or exposure time of the UV curing light, enabling the lasing frequency of the CLC sample to be tuned.