Surface-emitting distributed-feedback dye laser of a polymeric multilayer fabricated by spin coating

A distributed-feedback laser was demonstrated by using a fluorescent dye-doped polymer. The periodic structure of a one-dimensional photonic crystal was fabricated through spin coating and alternate stacking of high and low refractive-index polymers. The rhodamine-6G-doped multilayer showed a photonic band gap in the transmissivity spectrum at the fluorescent wavelength range. Laser emission from the surface of the multilayer was attained at the band edge for a pump of the second harmonic of a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser. Wavelength tuning was possible by spin coating a multilayer onto a concave substrate.