Abstract

Organic solid state lasers (OSL) based on semiconducting polymers or small molecules have seen some significant progress over the past decade. Owing to their relatively simple processing technology, they enable cost effective, easy to integrate laser sources.^[1] At the same time, their broad gain spectra allow for a wide wavelength tunability. Highly efficient organic gain materials combined with high-Q resonator geometries (distributed feedback (DFB), VCSEL, etc.) enable OSLs, optically pumped by simple inorganic laser diodes or even LEDs ^[2]. However, as of yet, continuous wave (cw) operation of OSLs remains a challenge as does electrical operation. Both are impeded by losses that are associated with excitons or polarons and the particular photo-physics of organic gain media. In the quest to find strategies to overcome these losses, it is essential to careful analyze the underlying photo-physical mechanisms.

© 2015 IEEE