Disordered microstructure polymer optical fiber for stabilized coherent random fiber laser.

Area of Science:

• Photonics and optical engineering
• Materials science
• Polymer science

Background:

• Random fiber lasers offer potential for low-cost coherent light sources.
• Previous random laser designs often require complex fabrication or have high energy thresholds.
• Disordered optical fibers present unique light scattering properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a novel random polymer fiber laser (RPFL) using Pyrromethene 597-doped disordered polymer optical fiber (POF).
• To investigate the mechanism of stabilized coherent laser action in such a system.
• To evaluate the threshold performance compared to existing random laser technologies.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a one-dimensional disordered polymer optical fiber doped with Pyrromethene 597 laser dye.
• In situ formation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes nanoparticles within the POF core during polymerization.
• Characterization of laser action, focusing on the role of nanoparticle scattering and waveguide confinement.
• Measurement of the lasing threshold energy.

Main Results:

• Achieved stabilized coherent laser action in the disordered POF.
• Identified weak optical multiple scattering from in situ formed nanoparticles as the key mechanism, enhanced by waveguide confinement.
• Demonstrated a threshold energy nearly one order of magnitude lower than previously reported liquid core random fiber lasers.

Conclusions:

• The developed RPFL based on disordered POF offers a promising platform for efficient random laser generation.
• The low threshold achieved significantly advances the practical application of random lasers.
• This work highlights the potential of incorporating nanoparticles into polymer optical fibers for advanced photonic devices.