Photoluminescence and lasing from deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) thin films doped with sulforhodamine

Abstract

Thin solid films of salmon deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) have been fabricated by treatment with a surfactant and used as host for the laser dye sulforhodamine (SRh). The DNA films have an absorption peak at approximately 260 nm owing to absorption by the nitrogenous aromatic bases. The SRh molecules in the DNA films have absorption and emission peaks at 578 and 602 nm, respectively. The maximum emission was obtained at approximately 1 wt. % SRh in DNA, equivalent to approximately 100 DNA base pairs per SRh molecule. A distributed feedback grating structure was fabricated on a SiO(2)-Si substrate using interference lithography. The grating period of 437 nm was selected, corresponding to second-order emission at the amplified spontaneous emission wavelength of 650 nm. Lasing was obtained by pumping with a doubled Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm. The lasing threshold was 3 microJ, corresponding to approximately 30 microJ/cm(2) or 4 kW/cm(2). The emission linewidth decreased from approximately 30 nm in the amplified spontaneous emission mode to <0.4 nm (instrument limited) in the lasing mode. The slope efficiency of the lasing was approximately 1.2%.

Optical, electro-optic and optoelectronic properties of natural and chemically modified DNAs

“…In relation to the above report, Yu et al 42 fabricated distributed feedback (DFB) lasing structures that consist of a grating etched into an SiO 2 -Si wafer substrate where a DNA-CTMA/sulforhodamine 640 (SRh) dye layer was deposited. The anionic SRh dye, whose lasing wavelength ranges from 610 to 670 nm depending on usage conditions, is a red-emitting fluorophore that is frequently utilized in dye lasers.…”

Preparation and characterization of DNA-aromatic surfactant complexes for optoelectronic applications

“…It is well known that many fluorescent dyes can be easily intercalated into the helices of DNA, whereby the intensity of the fluorescence is greatly enhanced 14 . Herein, we investigated the optical and lasing properties of rhodamine dyes incorporated in DNA complex films 5 .…”

Nonlinear Optical Studies of DNA Doped Rhodamine 6G-PVA Films Using Picosecond Pulses

“…Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a highly nonlinear bioorganic polymer, has been investigated as a photonic material recently with adequate success [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Biomaterials are interesting due to their remarkable properties which are not easily replicated with conventional organic or inorganic materials in the laboratory.…”

“…[5,6]. OLEDs containing DNA electron blocking layers have been recently reported [7] to exhibit significant enhancement in luminance and luminous efficiency [8]. DNA-CTMA thin films doped with Sulphorhodamine (SRh) have been reported to exhibit photoluminescence intensity more than an order of magnitude higher than that of SRh in PMMA [10].…”