Flexible mirrorless laser based on a free-standing film of photopolymerized cholesteric liquid crystal

Optically pumped mirrorless laser action has been observed in a dye-doped flexible free-standing film of photopolymerized cholesteric liquid crystal (PCLC). In the PCLC film, self-organized helical structure acts as one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal. At high excitation intensity above the threshold, a laser action is observed at an edge of the 1D photonic band of the PCLC helical structure. This PCLC film laser possesses an excellent mechanical flexibility, and the laser action is also observed in a bent film of PCLC. This implies that the one-dimensional periodic structure for the laser action is maintained even in the deformed film. Using such flexibility of the PCLC film, a focusing effect of laser emission is demonstrated in a circularly deformed film. Moreover, the helical pitch of the PCLC has no temperature dependence in contrast to that of unpolymerized cholesteric liquid crystal. This means that the operation wavelength of laser action is thermally stable, which is the great advantage for the device application. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.