Whispering gallery mode microlaser based on a fiber-stand polydimethylsiloxane microresonator

The whispering gallery mode (WGM) lasing in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microresonator is demonstrated with a convenient and crafty approach. Fabricated by directly brushing dye-doped PDMS solution on an optical fiber, the microresonator is self-formed due to the high surface tension. The size of the resonator can be widely tuned by using different droplet volumes and brushing speeds across the optical fiber. Lasing with a threshold as low as 2.5 mu J/ mm(2) is observed in this kind of fiber-stand PDMS microresonator. We also investigate the dependence of the lasing threshold on the different polarizations of the pump laser and size of the microresonator. This kind of WGM microresonator will find applications in optical sensors and on-chip integrated systems. (C) 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)