title: Enhanced amplified spontaneous emission in a quantum dot-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystal.
abstract: Quantum dot-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (QD-PDLCs) were prepared by photoinitiated polymerization and sealed in capillary tubes. The concentration of QDs in the PDLC was 1 wt%. Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of the quantum dot-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystals was observed with 532 nm wavelength laser excitation. The threshold for ASE was 6 mJ cm(-2), which is much lower than that for homogeneous quantum dot-doped polymer (25 mJ cm(-2)). The threshold for ASE was dramatically enhanced when the working temperature exceeded the clearing point of the liquid crystal; this result demonstrates that multi-scattering caused by the liquid crystals effectively improved the path length or dwell time of light in the gain region, which played a key role in decreasing the threshold for ASE.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Laser & Opto-Electronics, College of Precision Instruments and Opto-electronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, People's Republic of China. Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronics Information Technology (Tianjin University), Ministry of Education, Tianjin 300072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mingxuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Yating
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaoxian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yongli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Che
authors.forename: Haiting
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Guizhong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jianquan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yao