All-optically controllable nanoparticle random laser in a well-aligned laser-dye-doped liquid crystal

This study reports for the first time an all-optically controllable nanoparticle random laser (NPRL) in a well-aligned laser-dye-doped liquid crystal (LDDLC) cell added with NPs and azo-dyes. Experimental results display that the NPRL can be obtained when the pumped energy exceeds the energy threshold (∼3.5 μJ/pulse). The occurrence of the NPRL is attributable to the enhancement of the fluorescence by the multi-scattering events of the fluorescence photons from the randomly distributed NPs in the diffusion rout of the well-aligned LDDLC cell. In addition, the lasing intensity of the NPRL can decrease with increasing irradiation time of one UV beam. Continuing irradiation of one green beam following the UV illumination can increasingly recover the lasing intensity of the NPRL. The all-optically reversible controllability of the NPRL is basically attributed to the successive UV-beam-induced increase and green-beam-induced decrease in the randomness of the LDDLC via their interactions with the curved cis and rod-like trans isomers after the accumulation of the trans→cis and cis→trans back isomerizations of the azo-dyes, respectively. The former and latter mechanisms can decrease and increase the laser-dye's absorption and thus the induced spontaneous emission, respectively. These consequences can decrease and increase the lasing intensity, or equivalently, increase and decrease the energy threshold for the occurrence of the NPRL, respectively.