Distributed feedback imprinted electrospun fiber lasers

Abstract

Imprinted, distributed feedback lasers are demonstrated on individual, active electrospun polymer nanofibers. In addition to advantages related to miniaturization, optical confinement and grating nanopatterning lead to a significant threshold reduction compared to conventional thin-film lasers. The possibility of imprinting arbitrary photonic crystal geometries on electrospun lasing nanofibers opens new opportunities for realizing optical circuits and chips.

Keywords: electrospinning; nanofiber lasers; nanopatterning; polymer fibers.