Platinum-scatterer-based random lasers from dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystals in capillary tubes

The resonance characteristics of platinum-scatter-based random lasers from dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (DDPDLCs) in capillary tubes were researched for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. After adding platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) into the liquid crystal mixtures, the emission spectra of DDPDLCs revealed a lower lasing threshold in comparison with those of DDPDLCs without Pt NPs due to light scattering of liquid crystal droplets and the local field enhancement around Pt NPs. Furthermore, the full width at half-maximum (FWHM) and the lasing threshold were determined by the doping density of the Pt NPs. The threshold was decreased by about half from 17.5  μJ/pulse to 8.7  μJ/pulse on the condition that around 1.0 wt. % was the optimum concentration of Pt NPs doped into the DDPDLCs. The FWHM of the peaks sharply decreased to 0.1 nm. Our work provides an extremely simple method to enhance random lasers from DDPDLCs doped with Pt NPs, and it has potential applications in random fiber lasers or laser displays.