Resonance-driven random lasing
Published in Nature Photonics 2, 429, 2008
A stochastic laser is a system made up of a random set of elastic scatterers dispersed in an optical gain medium. Multiple light scattering replaces the standard optical cavity of traditional lasers, and the interaction between gain and scattering determines the properties of the laser. All random lasers studied up to the date of this publication consisted of irregularly shaped or polydisperse scatterers, with a certain average scattering force that was constant over the laser frequency window. In this publication we consider the case where the dispersion is resonant. We show that randomly assembled monodisperse spheres can sustain scattering resonances over the gain frequency window and that therefore the laser wavelength can be controlled by the diameter and refractive index of the spheres. Therefore, the system is a stochastic laser with a laser peak designed a priori within the gain curve.