Broadband optical amplifier based on a conjugated polymer

We demonstrate a compact, broadband optical amplifier using the conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′,6′-dimethyloctyloxy)-paraphenylenevinylene] (OC1C10–PPV) in dilute solution. Gains of 30–40 dB in a wavelength range of 575–640 nm, corresponding to a 50 THz bandwidth, are observed due to the broad luminescence spectrum and large cross section for stimulated emission of the polymer. The variation in gain as a function of solution concentration and probe intensity is examined. For a 1 cm path length we observe a small signal gain of 44±1 dB, and deduce a stimulated emission cross-section for OC1C10–PPV of (5.3±0.6)×10−17 cm2.

[1]  R. Cubeddu,et al.  Intensity stabilization of dye laser radiation by saturated amplification , 1973 .

[2]  T. Koch,et al.  Gain saturation of a picosecond dye laser amplifier chain , 1982 .

[3]  Daniel Moses,et al.  High quantum efficiency luminescence from a conducting polymer in solution: A novel polymer laser dye , 1992 .

[4]  Miller,et al.  Spatially indirect excitons as primary photoexcitations in conjugated polymers. , 1994, Physical review letters.

[5]  Mats Andersson,et al.  Semiconducting Polymers: A New Class of Solid-State Laser Materials , 1996, Science.

[6]  G. Peng,et al.  Broadband tunable optical amplification in rhodamine b-doped step-index polymer optical fibre , 1996 .

[7]  Richard H. Friend,et al.  Factors Influencing Stimulated Emission from Poly( p-phenylenevinylene) , 1997 .

[8]  Mats Andersson,et al.  Ultrafast studies of stimulated emission and gain in solid films of conjugated polymers , 1997 .

[9]  Mats Andersson,et al.  A polythiophene microcavity laser , 1998 .

[10]  K. Yoshino,et al.  Cooperative and stimulated emission in poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) thin films and solutions , 1998 .

[11]  Nir Tessler,et al.  Lasers Based on Semiconducting Organic Materials , 1999 .

[12]  Alan J. Heeger,et al.  Semiconducting (Conjugated) Polymers as Materials for Solid‐State Lasers , 2000 .

[13]  B. Batlogg,et al.  An organic solid state injection laser. , 2000, Science.

[14]  A. K. Sheridan,et al.  Tuneability of amplified spontaneous emission through control of the waveguide-mode structure in conjugated polymer films , 2000 .

[15]  Uli Lemmer,et al.  Conjugated polymers: lasing and stimulated emission , 2001 .

[16]  Thomas F. Krauss,et al.  Tuneable distributed feedback lasing in MEH-PPV films , 2001 .