Jaroslaw Mysliwiec

Deoxyribonucleic acid-based photochromic material for fast dynamic holography

The authors acknowledge the Australian Research Council Discovery Project No. DP0556942, the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the AOARD Grant No. 05-4010, and the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education Grant No. N50713231/3302 for financial support.

Amplified spontaneous emission in the spiropyran-biopolymer based system

Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) phenomenon in the 6-nitro-1′,3′,3′-trimethylspiro[2H-1-benzopyran-2,2′-indolin] organic dye dispersed in a solid matrix has been observed. The biopolymer system deoxyribonucleic acid blended with cationic surfactant molecule cetyltrimethyl-ammonium chloride served as a matrix. ASE appeared under sample excitation by UV light pulses (λ=355 nm) coming from nanosecond or picosecond neodymium doped yttrium aluminum garnet lasers and has been reinforced with green (λ=532 nm) light excitation followed UV light pulse. The ASE characteristics in function of different excitation pulse energies as well as signal gain were measured.

Biopolymer based system doped with nonlinear optical dye as a medium for amplified spontaneous emission and lasing

In this paper, we present results of detailed studies on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and lasing achieved in a double-layer system consisted of a biopolymer based matrix loaded with 3-(1,1-dicyanoethenyl1)-1phenyl-4,5dihydro-1H-pyrazole organic nonlinear optical dye and photochromic polymer. The laser action was achieved via distributed feedback configuration with third order of Bragg scattering on surface relief grating generated in photochromic polymer. To excite the luminescence, we have used 6 ns pulses of Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm. The ASE and lasing thresholds were estimated to be 17 mJ/cm2 and 11 mJ/cm2, respectively.

Study of the amplified spontaneous emission in a dye-doped biopolymer-based material

In this paper we investigate the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) phenomenon in the system based on a dye dissolved in a modified deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The system consisted of a biopolymeric matrix made of DNA blended with cationic surfactant molecule cetyltrimethyl-ammonium chloride (CTMA) and doped with a well-known rhodamine (Rh 6G) laser dye. Thin films of the DNA–CTMA : Rh6G were excited at λ = 532 nm wavelength with 8 ns laser pulses. We report on ASE intensity as a function of the laser power, dependence of polarization state of the excitation beam, ASE gain and temporal stability of the signal for the investigated system.

Physically transient photonics: random versus distributed feedback lasing based on nanoimprinted DNA.

Room-temperature nanoimprinted, DNA-based distributed feedback (DFB) laser operation at 605 nm is reported. The laser is made of a pure DNA host matrix doped with gain dyes. At high excitation densities, the emission of the untextured dye-doped DNA films is characterized by a broad emission peak with an overall line width of 12 nm and superimposed narrow peaks, characteristic of random lasing. Moreover, direct patterning of the DNA films is demonstrated with a resolution down to 100 nm, enabling the realization of both surface-emitting and edge-emitting DFB lasers with a typical line width of <0.3 nm. The resulting emission is polarized, with a ratio between the TE- and TM-polarized intensities exceeding 30. In addition, the nanopatterned devices dissolve in water within less than 2 min. These results demonstrate the possibility of realizing various physically transient nanophotonics and laser architectures, including random lasing and nanoimprinted devices, based on natural biopolymers.

Enhancement of third-order optical susceptibility of C60-TTF compounds using nematic liquid crystal

Abstract We report measurements of third-order optical susceptibilities of C 60 -TTF compounds for two kinds of matrices: conventional solution and nematic liquid crystal. The degenerate four-wave mixing technique in picosecond regime and degenerate two-wave mixing set-up in cw regime, (both at λ =532 nm) were used in the experiment. From these measurements we evaluated the third-order susceptibilities χ 3 values and the corresponding merit factors. The obtained results show a possibility of enhancement of the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibilities using the active matrix of TTF-C 60 molecules.

Study of semiconductor quantum dots influence on photorefractivity of liquid crystals

In this paper, we present the results of doping nematic liquid crystals (nLCs) with semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) where we discuss the CdS and CdSe QDs influence on the optical properties of investigated liquid crystal structures, i.e., diffraction efficiency enhancement. We also present the mathematical model describing the interaction between QDs and nLC molecules in the liquid crystal volume. The aim of this study is to improve the comprehension of the mechanisms of photorefractive effect observed in functionalized liquid crystal structures, which can lead to the development of more efficient holographic materials for dynamic data processing applications.

Biopolymer-based material used in optical image correlation

We investigate the possible application of a modified deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-dye system for dynamic processing of optical information, e.g., optical correlation. The system consists of a biopolymeric matrix made of DNA substituted with the cationic surfactant molecule cetyltrimethyl-ammonium chloride (CTMA) and doped with a photochromic Disperse Red 1 dye. Fast dynamics (millisecond range of rise and fall times) of output correlation signal formation was measured in a joint Fourier transform optical correlator experimental setup. Full reversibility of the correlation signal and reproducibility were observed even after long-time exposures.

Coherent–incoherent random lasing based on nano-rubbing induced cavities

In this letter we present the results of studies carried out on poly(n-vinylcarbazole) doped with the well-known DCM laser dye. We show that the simple incorporation of highly luminescent dye into a polymeric matrix can form an efficient solid state laser material. Naturally occurring inhomogeneities of a polymeric layer prepared by a drop casting process can scatter out light emitted in the process of photoluminescence in such a way that feedback is introduced to the system and coherent and incoherent random lasing can be observed. Moreover we show that after a nano-scale rubbing process the random lasing phenomenon occurs for a lower energy density of pumping light as compared to the virgin sample, and changes the light amplification nature from incoherent to coherent.

Pyrazoline derivatives with a tailored third order nonlinear optical response

In the present work the third order nonlinear optical response of a series of pyrazoline derivatives has been experimentally investigated. All of the compounds have been prepared as doped poly(methyl methacrylate) thin polymeric films. For the needs of this study the third harmonic generation Maker fringes technique has been employed by using 30 ps laser pulse duration and 1064 nm excitation wavelength. A variety of push–pull groups of pyrazoline-based derivatives have been studied in order to relate the structural properties with the optical nonlinearity. More specifically, the molecules under investigation have in several cases different electro accepting groups, which are located in various positions of the molecular structure providing two pairs of structural isomers. The experimental results demonstrate a high dependence of the optical nonlinearity due to the functionalization with the different moieties on the pyrazoline derivatives. This fact promotes this class of materials as promising candidates for photonics and optoelectronics applications, where the control of the molecular structure as a means of tailoring the optical nonlinearities is crucial.