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Femtosecond laser processing of microcavity lasers

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Abstract

In this paper, we reviewed the fabrications of functional microcavity lasers in soft materials such as polymer and protein by femtosecond laser processing. High-quality (Q) microdisks with a laser dye (Rhodamine B, RhB) acting as gain medium were fabricated that produced whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) lasing output. We also obtained unidirectional lasing output with a low lasing threshold in a deformed spiral microcavity at room temperature. Photonic-molecule (PM) microlasers were prepared to investigate the interaction and coupling effects of different cavities, and it was found that the distance between the two disks plays an important role in the lasing behaviors. Single-mode lasing was realized from a stacked PM microlaser through Vernier effect. Furthermore we adopted the biocompatible materials, RhB-doped proteins as a host material and fabricated a three-dimensional (3D) WGM microlaser, which operated well both in air and aqueous environment. The sensing of the protein micro-lasers to Na2SO4 concentration was investigated. Our results of fabricating high-Q microlasers with different materials reveal the potential applications of femtosecond laser processing in the areas of integrated optoelectronic and ultrahigh sensitive bio-sensing devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China

    Xuepeng Zhan, Huailiang Xu & Hongbo Sun

Authors
  1. Xuepeng Zhan
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  2. Huailiang Xu
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  3. Hongbo Sun
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Huailiang Xu or Hongbo Sun.

Additional information

Xuepeng Zhan received his B.S. degree from Jilin University in 2012 and now pursues his Ph.D. at the College of Electronic Science and Engineering of Jilin University. His current research is mainly related to the fabrication of micro/nano-scale structures by femtosecond laser processing.

Huailiang Xu received his Ph.D. degree in physics from Lund University of Sweden in 2004. He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Laval University of Canada. In January 2008, he became an assistant professor at The University of Tokyo, Japan. Since September 2009, He has been a full professor at Jilin University, China. His research interests are ultrafast intense laser science, laser fabrication, and atomic and molecular spectroscopy.

Hongbo Sun received his Ph.D. degree in electronics from Jilin University in 1996. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at University of Tokushima from 1996 to 2000, and then as an assistant professor at Osaka University. In 2005, he was promoted as a full professor (Changjiang Scholar) in Jilin University. He was awarded the Outstanding Young Scientist Award issued by the minister of MEXT (Japan) in 2006. His research interests are laser nanofabrication and ultrafast spectroscopy.

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Zhan, X., Xu, H. & Sun, H. Femtosecond laser processing of microcavity lasers. Front. Optoelectron. 9, 420–427 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-016-0581-8

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