Photonic-band-edge-induced lasing in self-assembled dye-activated photonic crystals

Abstract

We report experimental demonstration of photonic band-edge lasing in three-dimensionally ordered self-assembled photonic crystals consisting of rhodamine-B dye doped nanospheres of diameter 295 nm. Our all-solid photonic crystal shows a well-resolved photonic stop gap in the visible region. Laser-induced emission experiments reveal more than 51$%$ inhibition in spontaneous emission intensity of dye molecules within the stop gap and an enhancement near the blue side of the stop gap. With increase in incident pump energy, we achieve photonic-band-edge-induced lasing at room temperature with a lasing threshold of 0.7 mJ. We explain the origin of lasing as due to the enhancement of local density of states near the band edges and the light field distribution within the photonic crystal structure. Our results indicate that such all-solid, dye-activated self-assembled nanostructures are a promising candidate for realizing photonic devices.