title: Lasing with well-defined cavity modes in dye-infiltrated silica inverse opals.
abstract: Lasing in dye solution-embedded inverse silica opal structures was investigated. The opal films were prepared by sedimentation of polystyrene microspheres on a cover glass. The polystyrene structures were inverted using sol-gel infiltration of silica and subsequent removal of polystyrene. Photoluminescence of rhodamine (rhodamine B, 6G and sulfo-rhodamine 101) dye solutions embedded into the inverse silica opal structures exhibited clear signatures of the lasing via a distributed feedback (DFB) and gain modulation. The refractive index contrast between the dye and the inverse opal was small enough (approximately 0.03%) for the formation of refractive index coupling between the lasing modes. The lasing spectrum exhibited a highly regular periodic structure of modal peaks, rather than the chaotic superposition of peaks reported in previous studies. Lasing modes having a spectral width of about 0.25 nm and a free spectral range of about 0.75 nm appeared at the position of the maximum gain (the maximum fluorescence of the dye).
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, CRIS Bldg., Kita 21 Nishi 10, Kita-ku Sapporo 001-0021, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishijima
authors.forename: Kosei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Saulius
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Juodkazis
authors.forename: Vygantas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mizeikis
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Misawa
mesh_terms: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D007834:Lasers; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012822:Silicon Dioxide