Inkjet Printed Laser Arrays

D.J. Gardiner,1 W-K. Hsiao,2 S.M. Morris,1 P.J.W. Hands,1 T.D Wilkinson,1 I. M. Hutchings2 and H.J. Coles1

1 CMMPE, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, 9 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, UK 2 Inkjet Research Centre, Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering, www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/CMMPE

This work is funded by the “COSMOS TT” EPSRC Technology Translation Grant, EP/H046658/1

Paintable LC lasers

Advantages: Simple process Disadvantages: Limited spatial control

Laser dye+

Chiral nematic LC+

Polymer (PVA)

Lasingemulsion

Film shrinkage during drying induces LC alignment

Inkjet LC lasers

Direct printing onto glass does not give sufficient uniformity = multi-mode output

Experimental:LC Mixture: BDH-1281 in BL006, Laser dye – 1% Pyrromethene-597. Inkjet: 10 wt. % PVA film, Microfab printing device (droplet volume 200 - 300 pl).

References:D. J. Gardiner et al Opt. Express. 2011, 19, 2432. P. J. W. Hands et al, Appl. Phys. Lett. 2011, 98.

New Process – Wet layer printing Inkjet LC laser array

Complex & functional laser patterns on any substrate

Impact process: surface tension, immiscibility and interfacial interaction induce standing helix alignment

Droplet Deposition

Lasing: (Nd:YAG) laser (Polaris II, New Wave Research), 3-4 ns pulse duration, repetition rate 1 Hz, 110 µm

LC laser publications from CMMPE, University of Cambridge (2006-2012)For full list, see: http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/CMMPE/publications.html

Density of photon states in dye-doped chiral nematic liquid crystal cells in the presence of losses & gainTh.K. Mavrogordatos, S.M. Morris, F. Castles, P.J.W. Hands, A.D. Ford, H.J. Coles, T.D. WilkinsonPhysical Review E, 86, 011705, (2012)

Electrically switchable random to photonic band-edge laser emission in chiral nematic liquid crystalsS.M. Morris, D.J. Gardiner, P.J.W. Hands, M.M. Qasim, T.D. Wilkinson, I.H. White, H.J. ColesApplied Physics Letters, 100, 071110, (2012)

Lowering the excitation threshold of a random laser using dynamic scattering states of an organosiloxane SmA liquid crystalS.M. Morris, D.J. Gardiner, M.M. Qasim, P.J.W. Hands, T.D. Wilkinson, H.J. ColesJournal of Applied Physics, 111 (3), 033106, (2012)

Wavelength-tuneable liquid crystal lasers from the visible to the near-infraredP.J.W. Hands, C.A. Dobson, S.M. Morris, M.M. Qasim, D. J. Gardiner, T.D. Wilkinson, H.J. ColesProc. SPIE, 8114, p. 81140T, (2011)

Paintable band-edge liquid crystal lasersD.J. Gardiner, S.M. Morris, P.J.W. Hands, C. Mowatt, R. Rutledge, T.D. Wilkinson, H.J. Coles,Optics Express, 19, 2432, (2011)

Band-edge and random lasing in paintable liquid crystal emulsionsP.J.W. Hands, D.J. Gardiner, S.M. Morris, C. Mowatt, T.D. Wilkinson, H.J. Coles,Applied Physics Letters, 98, 141102, (2011)

Liquid crystal lasersH. Coles, S.M. MorrisNature Photonics, 4, 676, (2010)

Red-green-blue 2D tuneable liquid crystal laser devices and displaysH.J. Coles, S.M. Morris, A.D. Ford, P.J.W. Hands, T.D. Wilkinson Liquid crystal microlasers, Ed. L.M. Blinov, R. Bartolino, Transworld Research Network, Ch.13, (2010)

High slope-efficiency liquid crystal lasersC. Mowatt, S.M. Morris, T.D. Wilkinson, H.J. ColesApplied Physics Letters, 97 (25), 251109, (2010)

Comparison of the performance of photonic band-edge liquid crystal lasers using different dyes as the gain mediumC. Mowatt, S.M. Morris, M.H. Song, T.D. Wilkinson, R.H. Friend, H.J. ColesJournal of Applied Physics, 107, 043101, (2010)

Removing the discontinuous shift in emission wavelength of a chiral nematic liquid crystal laserS.M. Morris, A.D. Ford, H.J. ColesJournal of Applied Physics, 106, 023112, (2009)

Polychromatic liquid crystal laser arrays towards display applicationsS.M. Morris, P.J.W. Hands, S. Findeisen-Tandel, R.H. Cole, T.D. Wilkinson, H.J. ColesOptics Express, 16 (23), 18827-18837, (2008)

Two-dimensional liquid crystal laser arrayP.J.W. Hands, S.M. Morris, T.D. Wilkinson, H.J. ColesOptics Letters, 33 (5), 515-517, (2008)

Emission characteristics of a homologous series of bimesogenic liquid crystal lasersA.D. Ford, S.M. Morris, M.N. Pivnenko, C. Gillespie, H.J. ColesPhysical Review E, 76, 051703, (2007)

The emission characteristics of liquid crystal lasersS.M. Morris, A.D. Ford, C. Gillespie, M.N. Pivnenko, O. Hadeler, H.J. ColesJournal of the SID, 14(6), 565-573, (2006)

Photonics and lasing in liquid crystalsA.D. Ford, S.M. Morris, H.J. ColesMaterials Today, 9(7-8), 40-42, (2006)