Low threshold photonic crystal laser based on a Rhodamine dye doped high gain polymer

We demonstrate low threshold lasing oscillation in a photonic crystal (PhC) laser by using tert-butyl Rhodamine B (t-Bu-RhB) doped gain media. Lactonic t-Bu-RhB is synthesized to improve doping concentration in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) films, and then isomerized to the zwitterion form to achieve highly fluorescent gain medium. The t-Bu-RhB doped PMMA film is sandwiched by a pair of polystyrene colloidal crystals to construct a PhC resonating cavity. Single-mode laser oscillation at 592 nm is observed when the PhC resonating cavity is pumped by a Nd:YAG laser. The lasing threshold is 0.12 MW cm−2 utilizing 6.9 wt% t-Bu-RhB doped PMMA films, which is only 1/60 of that with 3 wt% t-Bu-RhB doped PMMA films. The concentration-dependent lasing action is attributed to different gain factors of the t-Bu-RhB doped PMMA films. Furthermore, a spatially and spectrally coherent laser beam from the PhC resonating cavity is verified by exploring the far-field image and angular dependence of the lasing emission. The approach provides a facile and efficient strategy to reduce the lasing threshold for fabricating low threshold PhC lasers.