Polymer laser fabricated by a simple micromolding process

Abstract

We report polymer distributed feedback lasers fabricated using solvent-assisted microcontact molding. The poly[2-methoxy-5-(3,7-dimethyloctyloxy) paraphenylenevinylene] film is patterned by placing it in conformal contact with an elastomeric mould inked with a suitable solvent. When the resulting microstructured film is pumped with the 532 nm pulsed output of a microchip laser, we observe lasing above a threshold pump energy of 225 nJ. Above threshold the emission narrows to a linewidth of less than 0.6 nm at a wavelength of 638 nm. This micromolding technique may find application to a wide range of wavelength-scale microstructured organic photonic devices.