Abstract

The dramatic behaviour of amplifying media on the addition of random scattering centres has been extensively studied after the early experiments were reported^[1]. Various theoretical and numerical models proposed to explain the lasing in the so-called random lasers emphasise the applicability of the system to form a cheap, sturdy, tunable, intense and narrowband source of fluorescence, that has the potential to replace conventional lasers in some fields of application. We report here, the experimental study of using a random amplifier as an optical diode, that allows the propagation of light of certain frequencies in only one direction, and forbidding it in the other.

© 2000 IEEE