Abstract
We report the structural and optical properties of Nd:YAB (NdxY1−x Al3(BO3)4)-nanoparticle-doped PDMS elastomer films for random lasing (RL) applications. Nanoparticles with Nd ratios of x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 were prepared and then incorporated into the PDMS elastomer to control the optical gain density and scattering center content over a wide range. The morphology and thermal stability of the elastomer composites were studied. A systematic investigation of the lasing wavelength, threshold, and linewidth of the laser was carried out by tailoring the concentration and optical gain of the scattering centers. The minimum threshold and linewidth were found to be 0.13 mJ and 0.8 nm for x = 1 and 0.8. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the RL intensity was easily tuned by controlling the degree of mechanical stretching, with strain reaching up to 300%. A strong, repeatable lasing spectrum over ~ 50 cycles of applied strain was observed, which demonstrates the high reproducibility and robustness of the RL. In consideration for biomedical applications that require long-term RL stability, we studied the intensity fluctuation of the RL emission, and confirmed that it followed Lévy-like statistics. Our work highlights the importance of using rare-earth doped nanoparticles with polymers for RL applications.
Highlights
There is significant research interest in flexible structured photonic devices based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)[1]
We demonstrated the potential application of inorganic Nd:YAB nanoparticles with PDMS for random lasing (RL) applications, and the material system demonstrated high durability[22,23]
The typical vibrational modes for silicon, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen bonds can be observed; these include symmetric stretching (Si–O–Si, 487 cm−1), symmetric rocking (Si–CH3, 614 cm−1), (Si–C, 707 cm−1), asymmetric stretching (Si–C) overlaps with asymmetric rocking ( CH3) at 789 cm−1, and symmetric stretching ( CH3) at 2965 cm−1 and at 2906 cm−1. These assignments are in close agreement with those found in the literature[25]
Summary
There is significant research interest in flexible structured photonic devices based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)[1]. In addition to the field of materials science[2,3] flexible photonic devices have raised interest for bio-medical applications, such as lab-on-a-chip (LOC), electronic skins, and medical p rosthetics[4,5] Because of their promising features such as high flexibility and good mechanical and chemical stability, PDMS-based devices could be suitable as mechanical sensors. Recent studies on polymer-based random lasers have mainly focused on their low lasing threshold and flexibility to realize compact and disposable visiblewavelength lasers[13], which are appropriate for sensing a pplications[14]. We studied the intensity fluctuation of the RL emission and confirmed that it follows Lévy statistics
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