Exponentially Amplified Circularly Polarized Lasing from Chiral Carbon Dots

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) provides unique spin-selective information, offering a crucial platform for the development of efficient spin-dependent optical devices and advancing next-generation photonic technologies. However, the intrinsically weak chiroptical response of CPL materials significantly limits their applications. To address this issue, this study proposes a strategy for the acid-driven self-assembly of carbon dots (CDs) into microhelical structures, which increases the dissymmetry factor (g-factor) from less than 10^-5 to 6.5 × 10^-3. Thus, circularly polarized laser emission was achieved for the first time in the field of CDs using an optical pumping system. The g-factor was exponentially amplified to 1.05, the threshold was as low as 28.91 mJ cm^-2, and the device exhibited excellent stability with no significant intensity attenuation after 15 h of operation. Using this high-polarization laser, a rapid-response circularly polarized laser logic gate system was successfully established. This study presents a novel material system and design model for developing high-performance, low-cost, carbon-based chiral laser devices and integrated optical information processing devices.