Phase-transition microcavity laser

Abstract

Liquid-crystal microcavity lasers have attracted considerable attention because of their extraordinary tunability and sensitive response to external stimuli, and they operate generally within a specific phase. Here, we demonstrate a liquid-crystal microcavity laser operated in the phase transition, in which the reorientation of liquid-crystal molecules occurs from aligned to disordered states. A significant wavelength shift of the microlaser is observed, resulting from the dramatic changes in the refractive index of liquid-crystal microdroplets during the phase transition. This phase-transition microcavity laser is then exploited for sensitive thermal sensing, enabling two-orderof-magnitude enhancement in sensitivity compared with the nematic-phase microlaser operated far from the transition point. Experimentally, we demonstrate an exceptional