Lasing in cholesteric liquid crystal cells with an isotropic defect layer inside

Abstract

The photonic density of states (PDS) of eigen polarizations (EPs) in cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) cells with a defect layer inside are calculated. The dependences for the PDS and light intensity in the defect layer on the parameters characterizing absorption and gain are obtained. We investigated the possibility of connections between the PDS and the density of the light energy accumulated in the system. The influence of the defect layer and CLC layer on the PDS are investigated. It is shown that the PDS is maximum when the defect is in the center of the system. We also showed that the subject system can work as a low threshold laser, a multi-position trigger, filter, etc.