Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser in the long-wavelength (700 nm) region in the visible by energy transfer between organic dyes

Abstract

In this work, organic vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with single-mode laser output in the long-wavelength region (~700 nm) of the visible were reported based on the energy transfer between dye pairs consisting of pyrromethene 597 (PM597) and rhodamine 700 (LD700). By co-doping PM597 into the polymeric hosts, the fluorescence intensity of LD700 was enhanced by 30-fold and the photophysical parameters of the donor–acceptor pairs were investigated, indicating the involvement of non-radiative resonance energy transfer processes between PM597 and LD700. Active distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) were made by alternately spin-coating dye-doped polyvinylcarbazole and cellulose acetate thin films as the high and low refractive index layers, respectively. By sandwiching the active layer with 2 DBR mirrors, VCSEL emission at 698.9 nm in the biological first window (650–950 nm) was observed under the 532-nm laser pulses. The laser slope efficiency and threshold were also measured.