TY - JOUR
T1 - Plasmon-assisted random lasing from a single-mode fiber tip
AU - Khatri, Dipendra S.
AU - Li, Ying
AU - Chen, Jiyang
AU - Stocks, Anna Elizabeth
AU - Kwizera, Elyahb Allie
AU - Huang, Xiaohua
AU - Argyropoulos, Christos
AU - Hoang, Thang
N1 - Funding Information:
National Science Foundation (DMR-1709612); National Institutes of Health (1R15 CA 195509-01); Oak Ridge Associated Universities (Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award); FedEx Institute of Technology, University of Memphis.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement
PY - 2020/5/25
Y1 - 2020/5/25
N2 - Random lasing occurs as the result of a coherent optical feedback from multiple scattering centers. Here, we demonstrate that plasmonic gold nanostars are efficient light scattering centers, exhibiting strong field enhancement at their nanotips, which assists a very narrow bandwidth and highly amplified coherent random lasing with a low lasing threshold. First, by embedding plasmonic gold nanostars in a rhodamine 6G dye gain medium, we observe a series of very narrow random lasing peaks with full-width at half-maximum ∼ 0.8 nm. In contrast, free rhodamine 6G dye molecules exhibit only a single amplified spontaneous emission peak with a broader linewidth of 6 nm. The lasing threshold for the dye with gold nanostars is two times lower than that for a free dye. Furthermore, by coating the tip of a single-mode optical fiber with gold nanostars, we demonstrate a collection of random lasing signal through the fiber that can be easily guided and analyzed. Time-resolved measurements show a significant increase in the emission rate above the lasing threshold, indicating a stimulated emission process. Our study provides a method for generating random lasing in the nanoscale with low threshold values that can be easily collected and guided, which promise a range of potential applications in remote sensing, information processing, and on-chip coherent light sources.
AB - Random lasing occurs as the result of a coherent optical feedback from multiple scattering centers. Here, we demonstrate that plasmonic gold nanostars are efficient light scattering centers, exhibiting strong field enhancement at their nanotips, which assists a very narrow bandwidth and highly amplified coherent random lasing with a low lasing threshold. First, by embedding plasmonic gold nanostars in a rhodamine 6G dye gain medium, we observe a series of very narrow random lasing peaks with full-width at half-maximum ∼ 0.8 nm. In contrast, free rhodamine 6G dye molecules exhibit only a single amplified spontaneous emission peak with a broader linewidth of 6 nm. The lasing threshold for the dye with gold nanostars is two times lower than that for a free dye. Furthermore, by coating the tip of a single-mode optical fiber with gold nanostars, we demonstrate a collection of random lasing signal through the fiber that can be easily guided and analyzed. Time-resolved measurements show a significant increase in the emission rate above the lasing threshold, indicating a stimulated emission process. Our study provides a method for generating random lasing in the nanoscale with low threshold values that can be easily collected and guided, which promise a range of potential applications in remote sensing, information processing, and on-chip coherent light sources.
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U2 - 10.1364/OE.391650
DO - 10.1364/OE.391650
M3 - Article
C2 - 32549465
AN - SCOPUS:85085479794
SN - 1094-4087
VL - 28
SP - 16417
EP - 16426
JO - Optics Express
JF - Optics Express
IS - 11
ER -