抄録
On the basis of our research, this report describes the recent progress on mirrorless laser action induced by photonic band-gaps (PBGs) of chiral liquid crystals (CLCs). Liquid crystal compounds with molecular chirality self-organize the supramolecular helical structure by their twisting power. Therefore, we can observe the selective reflection band regarding as 1-D PBG. When the fluorescent dye-doped CLC is optically excited with a linearly polarized beam, the laser emission appears at the chiral 1-D PBG edge (s) of CLC hosts. The optically pumped laser emission shows circularly polarized characteristic, even though the excitation beam is linearly polarized. Applying voltages to the optically pumped CLC cells enables reversible switching of the laser action as a result of changes in the supramolecular helical structure of CLC host. Moreover, we succeed in the phototunable laser emission from the photosensitive CLC.
