Unique optical properties of organic semiconductor lasers

Summary form only given. We have studied the optical properties of two different organic semiconductor laser (OSL) structures: a waveguide edge-emitting OSL and an organic vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (OVCSEL). The optically pumped edge-emitting OSL consists of a 3000 /spl Aring/ thick organic film vacuum-deposited onto a [100] InP substrate precoated with a 2-/spl mu/m thick layer of SiO/sub 2/. The organic films were grown in high vacuum by thermal coevaporation of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq/sub 3/) and DCM molecules at mass ratios from 10:1 to 200:1. The organic film forms a slab optical waveguide with the SiO/sub 2/ cladding layer on one side and air on the other. The laser optical cavity is formed by the 7% reflective facets of the as-deposited organic film, which conforms to the cleaved parallel edges of the substrate. Unique optical and electronic properties of these OSLs such as thermal stability of emission wavelength, lasing threshold and output power, extremely narrow linewidth combined with a low material cost, and ease of integration of amorphous organic films with other optoelectronic devices make these lasers attractive for a number of applications, such as optical communication, optical sensing, and memory.