Paintable band-edge liquid crystal lasers
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Updated: Jun 4, 2026
An Electrochemical Cholesteric Liquid Crystalline Device for Quick and Low-Voltage Color Modulation
Published on: February 27, 2019
Damian J Gardiner1, Stephen M Morris, Philip J W Hands
1Centre of Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, 9 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0FA, UK. djg47@cam.ac.uk
Abstract:
In this paper we demonstrate photonic band-edge laser emission from emulsion-based polymer dispersed liquid crystals. The lasing medium consists of dye-doped chiral nematic droplets dispersed within a polymer matrix that spontaneously align as the film dries. Such lasers can be easily formed on single substrates with no alignment layers. The system combines the self-organizing periodic structure of chiral nematic liquid crystals with the simplicity of the emulsion procedure so as to produce a material that retains the emission characteristics of band-edge lasers yet can be readily coated. Sequential and stacked layers demonstrate the possibility of achieving simultaneous multi-wavelength laser output from glass, metallic, and flexible substrates.
