Organic DFB-lasers with mode emission tuneability by dynamic and permanent photoinduced gratings

Summary form only given. Solid-state organic luminescent materials, conjugated polymers and systems based on organic small molecules attract a revival of interest as innovative approaches towards solid-state photonic applications including display and laser technology, as well as telecommunication applications in view of a number of technological and functional assets. Thin film samples are spin-coated from solution onto planar substrates and graded index waveguides are prepared by dye-doping polymeric plates via a solvent assisted in-diffusion process. In our experiment we make use of the Lloyd-mirror configuration to evidence distributed feedback (DFB) laser emission via photoinduced gratings. In the experiment the sample is photo-pumped by the periodic fringing pattern of a two-beam interference configuration. The optical distributed feedback structure is provided by the in-plane grating which results from the spatial modulation of gain and refractive index. The spectral position of the laser mode emission can be continuously tuned by variation of the interference incidence angle. We observe laser mode emission over a broad spectral range.