Electrotunable polarization of surface-emitting distributed feedback laser with nematic liquid crystals

The authors have demonstrated nanoimprinted polarization-tunable surface-emitting distributed feedback laser by using an aligned dye-doped nematic liquid crystal (NLC) as a tunable phase retarder. Because the lasing emission from nanoimprinted layer is a highly transverse electric mode, the polarization is continuously tunable by electrically controlling NLC orientation. The presented polarization-tunable lasing device will give rise to various opportunities in optical device application and its simple fabrication process can be readily used for large area geometries from the viewpoint of practical application. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.