Lasing from Organic Dye Molecules Embedded in Transparent Wood

The report on a study of laser emission from a conceptually new organic material based on transparent wood (TW) with embedded dye Rhodamine 6G molecules is presented in this paper. The lasing performance is compared to a reference organic material containing dye in a poly-methyl-methacrylate matrix. From experimental results, one can conclude that the optical feedback in dye-TW material is realized within cellulose fibers, which play the role of tiny optical resonators. Therefore, the output emission is a collective contribution of individual resonators. Due to this fact, as well as low Q-factor of the resonators/fibers and their length variation, the spectral line of laser emission is broadened up to several nanometers.