Surface emitting polymer photonic crystal dye lasers

Contacts:

Christoph Vannahme, DTU Nanotech 4525-6330 (christoph.vannahme@nanotech.dtu.dk)

Surface emitting polymer photonic crystal dye lasers

Nanostructured polymer lasers can be fabricated by combined nanoimprint and photolithography in large numbers and in a cheap parallel manner. These lasers are sensitive to refractive index changes in their surroundings, and are thus used for biological/chemical sensing. The lasers are made from polymer doped with an organic dye. Typically, these lasers are emitting light in the chip plane and their light is detected with a glass fiber. In contrast to this, biological/chemical analysis is usually performed using microscopes.

The purpose of this project is to merge polymer photonic crystal dye lasers and microscopy. Therefore, lasers will be designed for surface emission and a microscope setup will be modified such that it allows for characterizing the lasers. After the project you will:

- Know the physics behind dye lasers and photonic crystals

- Understand the important design considerations for nanostructured polymer lasers

- Know how to fabricate the lasers in the DANCHIP cleanroom

- Know how to examine the topography of the lasers by atomic force microscope and scanning electron microscope

- Have experience with characterizing the lasers and working in our optics lab

We will discuss the focus of your work (e.g. on design, manufacturing, or optical characterization) according to your preferences at the beginning of the project.