César L. Folcia , Josu Ortega , Teresa Sierra , Alejandro Martínez-Bueno , Jesús Etxebarria
{"title":"Chiral ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals as materials for versatile laser devices","authors":"César L. Folcia , Josu Ortega , Teresa Sierra , Alejandro Martínez-Bueno , Jesús Etxebarria","doi":"10.1016/j.giant.2024.100316","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We present a liquid-crystal laser device based on the chiral ferroelectric nematic phase (N<sub>F</sub>*). The laser medium is obtained by mixing a ferroelectric nematic material with a chiral agent and a small proportion of a fluorescent dye. Notably, in the N<sub>F</sub>* phase very low electric fields perpendicular to the helical axis are able to reorient the molecules, giving rise to a periodic structure whose director profile is not single harmonic but contains the contribution of various Fourier components. This feature induces the appearance of several photonic bandgaps whose spectral ranges depend on the field, which can be exploited to build tunable laser devices. Here we report the characterization of home-made N<sub>F</sub>* lasers that can be tunable under low electric fields and present laser action in two of the photonic bands of the material. The obtained results open a promising route for the design of new and more versatile liquid-crystal based lasers.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":34151,"journal":{"name":"GIANT","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666542524000808/pdfft?md5=b7406937c4dfe7cd08d6a120356145eb&pid=1-s2.0-S2666542524000808-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"GIANT","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666542524000808","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
We present a liquid-crystal laser device based on the chiral ferroelectric nematic phase (NF*). The laser medium is obtained by mixing a ferroelectric nematic material with a chiral agent and a small proportion of a fluorescent dye. Notably, in the NF* phase very low electric fields perpendicular to the helical axis are able to reorient the molecules, giving rise to a periodic structure whose director profile is not single harmonic but contains the contribution of various Fourier components. This feature induces the appearance of several photonic bandgaps whose spectral ranges depend on the field, which can be exploited to build tunable laser devices. Here we report the characterization of home-made NF* lasers that can be tunable under low electric fields and present laser action in two of the photonic bands of the material. The obtained results open a promising route for the design of new and more versatile liquid-crystal based lasers.
期刊介绍:
Giant is an interdisciplinary title focusing on fundamental and applied macromolecular science spanning all chemistry, physics, biology, and materials aspects of the field in the broadest sense. Key areas covered include macromolecular chemistry, supramolecular assembly, multiscale and multifunctional materials, organic-inorganic hybrid materials, biophysics, biomimetics and surface science. Core topics range from developments in synthesis, characterisation and assembly towards creating uniformly sized precision macromolecules with tailored properties, to the design and assembly of nanostructured materials in multiple dimensions, and further to the study of smart or living designer materials with tuneable multiscale properties.