Cellular dye lasers : lasing thresholds and sensing in a planar resonator
Abstract
Biological cell lasers are promising novel building blocks of future biocompatible optical systems and offer new approaches to cellular sensing and cytometry in a microfluidic setting. Here, we demonstrate a simple method for providing optical gain by using a variety of standard fluorescent dyes. The dye gain medium can be located inside or outside a cell, or in both, which gives flexibility in experimental design and makes the method applicable to all cell types. Due to the higher refractive index of the cytoplasm compared to the surrounding medium, a cell acts as a convex lens in a planar Fabry-Perot cavity. Its effect on the stability of the laser cavity is analyzed and utilized to suppress lasing outside cells. The resonance modes depend on the shape and internal structure of the cell. As proof of concept, we show how the laser output modes are affected by the osmotic pressure.
Citation
Humar , M , Gather , M C & Yun , S-H 2015 , ' Cellular dye lasers : lasing thresholds and sensing in a planar resonator ' , Optics Express , vol. 23 , no. 21 , pp. 27865-27879 . https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.23.027865
Publication
Optics Express
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1094-4087Type
Journal article
Description
This research was supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (ECCS-1101947, ECCS-1505569) and National Institutes of Health (P41 EB015903). M.H. was supported in part by the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship N° 627274 within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. M.C.G. was supported in part by the Starting Grant N° 640012 within the H2020 European Community Framework Programme.Collections
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