Optically band-tunable color cone lasing emission in a dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal with a photoisomerizable chiral dopant

This work demonstrates the feasibility of an optically band-tunable color cone lasing emission (CCLE) based on a dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal with a photoisomerizable chiral dopant. Experimental results indicate that the lasing band of the formed CCLE can be tuned optically among various color regions by adjusting the UV irradiated fluence. The optical band tunability of the laser is attributed to the presence of two chiral agents with twisting powers of opposite signs in the cell and the UV-irradiation-induced decrease of the right-handed twisting power of the photoisomerizable chiral dopant via trans -> cis isomerization, subsequently inducing the other chiral agent to reduce the structural pitch of the cell. Total tunable wavelength range of the laser exceeds 100 nm. Moreover, the band-tunable laser exhibits a high spectral stability under illumination of a visible light or thermal treatment.