Enhanced Laser Emission by Incorporating Helically Twisted Silver Nanoflakes within Polymer-Stabilized Cholesteric Liquid Crystals

Abstract

The characteristics of the host in a liquid-crystal laser that enable it to emit light are of critical importance in determining the potential applications of such devices. The incorporation of nanomaterials into the host, which incorporates liquid crystals (LCs) to form an assembly, enhances their birefringence and contributes to the dipole moment, thereby reducing pump energy consumption. In this research, silver nanoflakes (Ag-NFs) were blended into the cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) hosts (CLCs-host), resulting in their helical twisting. The incorporation of a small quantity of Ag-NFs not only enhanced the reflection of the hybrid but also optimized the utilization of pump energy to induce highly brightened lasing due to their excellent localized surface polarization resonance. The liquid-crystal-laser fabricated by blending 0.10 wt % Ag-NFs into polymer-stabilized CLCs (PSCLCs) containing 1 wt % reactive mesogens has been demonstrated to exhibit a lower pump energy consumption at 0.291 μJ/pulse. Moreover, the laser exhibited a higher lasing intensity by 16.2% improvement, superior time-luminance stability, and greater thermal resistance within the 26–38 °C range. The findings of this research contribute to the advancement of random laser technology in a variety of fields and facilitate the development of high-performance optoelectronic devices.