Laser action in organic semiconductor waveguide and double-heterostructure devices

Stimulated emission by optical pumping of solid-state organic materials has been well known since the late 1960s following thefirst demonstrations of laser action in dye-doped gels and molecular crystals. Interest in this field has been revived by the demonstration of efficient, long-lived and intense electroluminescence in both polymeric and small-molecular-weight organic thin films, which indicates the possibility of laser action in these materials. Several recent studies of optically pumped polymers have reported emission phenomena suggestive of laser action. Here we present clear evidence for laser action from optically pumped, vacuum-deposited thin films of organic molecules, in both slab-waveguide and double-heterostructure configurations. This realization of laser action in conducting organic thin films should open the way to the development of a new class of electrically pumped laser diodes.