Wide tunable laser based on electrically regulated bandwidth broadening in polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal

Abstract

Electrically responsive photonic crystals represent one of the most promising intelligent material candidates for technological applications in optoelectronics. In this research, dye-doped polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs) with negative dielectric anisotropy were fabricated, and mirrorless lasing with an electrically tunable wavelength was successfully achieved. Unlike conventional liquid-crystal lasers, the proposed laser aided in tuning the emission wavelength through controlling the reflection bandwidth based on gradient pitch distribution. The principal advantage of the electrically controlled dye-doped PSCLC laser is that the electric field is applied parallel to the helical axis, which changes the pitch gradient instead of rotating the helix axis, thus keeping the heliconical structure intact during lasing. The broad tuning range (∼110 nm) of PSCLC lasers, coupled with their stable emission performance, continuous tunability, and easy fabrication, leads to its numerous potential applications in intelligent optoelectronic devices, such as sensing, medicine, and display.