Liquid Nanolaser Technology May Be Used for Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostic Applications

Wavelength-dependent time-resolved experiments showed distinct lifetime characteristics below and above the lasing threshold. By integrating gold nanoparticle arrays within microfluidic channels and flowing in liquid gain materials with different refractive indices, the investigators achieved dynamic tuning of the plasmon lasing wavelength.

Nanoscale lasers can be mass-produced with emission wavelengths over the entire gain bandwidth of the dye employed. Thus, the same gold nanoparticle array can exhibit lasing wavelengths that can be tuned over 50 nanometers, from 860 to 910 nanometers, simply by changing the solvent used to dissolve the dye.

“Our study allows us to think about new laser designs and what could be possible if they could actually be made,” said Dr. Teri W. Odom, professor of chemistry at Northwestern University. “My lab likes to go after new materials, new structures, and new ways of putting them together to achieve things not yet imagined. We believe this work represents a conceptual and practical engineering advance for on-demand, reversible control of light from nanoscopic sources.”

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