Flexible and ultra-lightweight polymer membrane lasers

Markus Karl; James M. E. Glackin; Marcel Schubert; Nils M. Kronenberg; Graham A. Turnbull; Ifor D. W. Samuel; Malte C. Gather

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03874-w

Flexible and ultra-lightweight polymer membrane lasers

Markus Karl, James M. E. Glackin, Marcel Schubert, Nils M. Kronenberg, Graham A. Turnbull, Ifor D. W. Samuel, Malte C. Gather^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Organic semiconductors enable the fabrication of a range of lightweight and mechanically flexible optoelectronic devices. Most organic semiconductor lasers, however, have remained rigid until now, predominantly due to the need for a support substrate. Here, we use a simple fabrication process to make membrane-based, substrate-less and extremely thin (< 500 nm) organic distributed feedback lasers that offer ultralow-weight (m/A <0.5 gm⁻²) and excellent mechanical flexibility. We show operation of the lasers as free-standing membranes and transfer them onto other substrates, e.g. a banknote, where the unique lasing spectrum is readily read out and used as security feature. The pump thresholds and emission intensity of our membrane lasers are well within the permissible exposures for ocular safety and we demonstrate integration on contact lenses as wearable security tags.

Original language	English
Article number	1525
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03874-w
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2018

Keywords

Organic semiconductor laser
Distributed feedback laser
DFB laser
Electronics
Excitation
Devices

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10.1038/s41467-018-03874-wLicence: CC BY

Karl_2018_NatComms_Membranelasers_CC
© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Final published version, 1.59 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Flexible and ultra-lightweight polymer membrane lasers",

abstract = "Organic semiconductors enable the fabrication of a range of lightweight and mechanically flexible optoelectronic devices. Most organic semiconductor lasers, however, have remained rigid until now, predominantly due to the need for a support substrate. Here, we use a simple fabrication process to make membrane-based, substrate-less and extremely thin (< 500 nm) organic distributed feedback lasers that offer ultralow-weight (m/A <0.5 gm−2) and excellent mechanical flexibility. We show operation of the lasers as free-standing membranes and transfer them onto other substrates, e.g. a banknote, where the unique lasing spectrum is readily read out and used as security feature. The pump thresholds and emission intensity of our membrane lasers are well within the permissible exposures for ocular safety and we demonstrate integration on contact lenses as wearable security tags.",

keywords = "Organic semiconductor laser, Distributed feedback laser, DFB laser, Electronics, Excitation, Devices",

author = "Markus Karl and Glackin, \{James M. E.\} and Marcel Schubert and Kronenberg, \{Nils M.\} and Turnbull, \{Graham A.\} and Samuel, \{Ifor D. W.\} and Gather, \{Malte C.\}",

note = "The authors acknowledge financial support from the European Research Council (ERC StG ABLASE, 640012), the Scottish Funding Council (via SUPA) and EPSRC (EP/P030017/1). M.K. and J.M.E.G. acknowledge funding from the EPSRC DTG (EP/M506631/1 and EP/L505079/1). M.S. acknowledges funding from the European Commission for a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (659213). I.D.W.S. acknowledges funding from a Royal Society Wolfson research merit award.",

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month = may,

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doi = "10.1038/s41467-018-03874-w",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

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AU - Karl, Markus

AU - Glackin, James M. E.

AU - Schubert, Marcel

AU - Kronenberg, Nils M.

AU - Turnbull, Graham A.

AU - Samuel, Ifor D. W.

AU - Gather, Malte C.

N1 - The authors acknowledge financial support from the European Research Council (ERC StG ABLASE, 640012), the Scottish Funding Council (via SUPA) and EPSRC (EP/P030017/1). M.K. and J.M.E.G. acknowledge funding from the EPSRC DTG (EP/M506631/1 and EP/L505079/1). M.S. acknowledges funding from the European Commission for a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (659213). I.D.W.S. acknowledges funding from a Royal Society Wolfson research merit award.

PY - 2018/5/1

Y1 - 2018/5/1

N2 - Organic semiconductors enable the fabrication of a range of lightweight and mechanically flexible optoelectronic devices. Most organic semiconductor lasers, however, have remained rigid until now, predominantly due to the need for a support substrate. Here, we use a simple fabrication process to make membrane-based, substrate-less and extremely thin (< 500 nm) organic distributed feedback lasers that offer ultralow-weight (m/A <0.5 gm−2) and excellent mechanical flexibility. We show operation of the lasers as free-standing membranes and transfer them onto other substrates, e.g. a banknote, where the unique lasing spectrum is readily read out and used as security feature. The pump thresholds and emission intensity of our membrane lasers are well within the permissible exposures for ocular safety and we demonstrate integration on contact lenses as wearable security tags.

AB - Organic semiconductors enable the fabrication of a range of lightweight and mechanically flexible optoelectronic devices. Most organic semiconductor lasers, however, have remained rigid until now, predominantly due to the need for a support substrate. Here, we use a simple fabrication process to make membrane-based, substrate-less and extremely thin (< 500 nm) organic distributed feedback lasers that offer ultralow-weight (m/A <0.5 gm−2) and excellent mechanical flexibility. We show operation of the lasers as free-standing membranes and transfer them onto other substrates, e.g. a banknote, where the unique lasing spectrum is readily read out and used as security feature. The pump thresholds and emission intensity of our membrane lasers are well within the permissible exposures for ocular safety and we demonstrate integration on contact lenses as wearable security tags.

KW - Organic semiconductor laser

KW - Distributed feedback laser

KW - DFB laser

KW - Electronics

KW - Excitation

KW - Devices

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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-018-03874-w

DO - 10.1038/s41467-018-03874-w

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 9

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 1525

ER -

Flexible and ultra-lightweight polymer membrane lasers

Abstract

Keywords

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Resonant and shaped photonics for under: Resonant and shaped photonics for understanding the physical and biomedical world

Living Lasers: H2020 Marie Curie Fellowship 2014 LIVING LASERS

H2020 ERC Starting Grant ABLASE: H2020 ERC Starting Grant ABLASE (Grant Agreement No. 640012)

Data underpinning - "Flexible and Ultra-lightweight Polymer Membrane Lasers"

Explosive vapour sensing with organic and hybrid semiconductors

Living lasers: lasing from biological and biocompatible soft matter

Cite this

Flexible and ultra-lightweight polymer membrane lasers

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Resonant and shaped photonics for under: Resonant and shaped photonics for understanding the physical and biomedical world

Living Lasers: H2020 Marie Curie Fellowship 2014 LIVING LASERS

H2020 ERC Starting Grant ABLASE: H2020 ERC Starting Grant ABLASE (Grant Agreement No. 640012)

Datasets

Data underpinning - "Flexible and Ultra-lightweight Polymer Membrane Lasers"

Student theses

Explosive vapour sensing with organic and hybrid semiconductors

Living lasers: lasing from biological and biocompatible soft matter

Cite this