Single-, Dual-, Triple, and Quadruple-Wavelength Surface-Emitting Lasing in Blue-Phase Liquid Crystal

Soft organic lasers with multiwavelength output and high spectral purity are of crucial importance for versatile photonic devices, owing to their monochromaticity, coherence, and high intensity. However, there remain challenges for the achievement of surface-emitting multiwavelength lasing in soft photonic crystals, and the relative mechanisms need to be investigated. Herein, single-, dual-, triple-, and quadruple-wavelength lasers are successfully achieved in dye-doped blue-phase liquid crystal (BPLC) film. The number and wavelength of the lasing peaks can be manipulated by tuning the center of the bandgap, the order parameter of the laser dye, the quality of the resonance cavity, and even the pump energy. For single-wavelength lasing, a lasing peak with an ultranarrow linewidth of 0.04 nm (Q-factor of 13 454) is achieved. Multiwavelength lasing is attained based on the following aspects: i) the narrow bandgaps of the BPLCs with full width at half maximum of 14-20 nm; ii) a laser dye with high gain over a wide wavelength band, having a low-order parameter in the liquid crystal matrix; iii) appropriate relative positions between the reflection and fluorescence peaks; and iv) the highly ordered crystal lattice of BPLC film. The proposed single-to-quadruple-wavelength surface-emitting lasers can be employed as coherent light sources for next-generation optical devices.

Automated summary

This study successfully achieved multiwavelength laser output in dye-doped blue-phase liquid crystal films and controlled the wavelength and number of lasers by adjusting different parameters. These surface-emitting lasers can serve as light sources for next-generation optical devices.