Laser emission from single, dye-doped microdroplets situated on a superhydrophobic surface

Abstract

Optical microcavities are attractive in developing ultralow threshold lasers which hold a great promise for applications in optical communications systems and fundamental studies in cavity quantum electrodynamics. Up to date laser emission has been observed from various different optical microcavities: Microdisks, microspheres, micropillars, photonic crystal defect microcavities, and microdroplets flying in air. Here we report the observation of laser emission from single, stationary, dye-doped microdroplets situated on a superhydrophobic surface. In contrast to the previous demonstrations on microdroplets flying in air, the technique we use allows for the analysis of laser emission from a particular microdroplet over prolonged periods.