An mCherry biolaser based on microbubble cavity with ultra-low threshold

Abstract

Biolasers show considerable potential in the biomedical field. Fluorescent protein (FP) is a type of biomaterial with good luminescence efficiency that can be used as the luminescent gain medium in biolasers. Due to the higher cell/tissue permeability, lower cell phototoxicity, and relatively less background fluorescence than other fluorescent proteins, the red fluorescent protein is more suitable in biological applications. MCherry is the most extensively used high-quality red fluorescent protein because of its short maturation time and stable luminescence properties. In this study, using mCherry and microbubble cavity, we realize a highly stable mCherry fluorescent protein laser. The laser resonator achieves a quality factor of 108, which is the highest Q factor among the currently available FP lasers. Moreover, this laser exhibits a low threshold of 1.15 μJ/mm2, which can effectively protect the luminescent material from being damaged by pump light. The prepared laser shows excellent stability in a wide pH range with good photobleaching resistance and can be stored at 4 °C for 30 days. Also, the laser can serve as a high-sensitivity molecular concentration detector with mCherry as biomarker, owing to its lasing threshold behavior.