Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) cells were fabricated using three kinds of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) materials with different optical birefringent anisotropies Án. A larger Án of NLCs results in a larger photonic band gap (PBG) width and higher density of states (DOS) at the PBG edge for each CLC cell. We were able to lower the threshold energy by a factor of more than two using CLC cells with a broader PBG width.
The authors have demonstrated the enhancement of linearly polarized lasing emission intensity using a structure made by a simple fabrication process. The enhanced lasing is achieved using a nanoimprinted distributed feedback structure together with spin-coated polymeric liquid crystals. The backward linearly TE-polarized lasing emission is transformed to left-handed circularly polarized light (L-CPL) by employing a dye-doped polymeric nematic liquid crystal (PNLC) film as a (−1/4)λ[=(3/4)λ] plate. The L-CPL is effectively reflected by a L-polymeric cholesteric liquid crystal film as a reflector and transformed back to TE-polarized light by the PNLC film; as a result one-directional emission intensity is enhanced.
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