Self-organized lasers of reconfigurable colloidal assemblies

Abstract

Biological cells self-organize into living materials that uniquely blend structure with functionality and responsiveness to the environment. The integration of similar life-like features in man-made materials remains challenging, yet desirable to manufacture active, adaptive and autonomous systems. Here we show the self-organization of programmable random lasers from the reversible outof-equilibrium self-assembly of colloids. Random lasing originates from the optical amplification of light undergoing multiple scattering within the dissipative colloidal assemblies and therefore is crucially dependent on their selforganization behavior. Under external light stimuli, these dynamic random lasers are responsive and present a continuously tunable laser threshold. They can thus reconfigure and cooperate by emulating the ever-evolving spatiotemporal relationship between structure and functionality typical of living matter.