High Q defect mode and laser action in one-dimensional hybrid photonic crystal containing cholesteric liquid crystal

The authors have investigated the optical characteristics of a one-dimensional hybrid photonic crystal (1D HPC) containing cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) as a defect by theoretical calculation and predicted the appearance of additional modes at the band edges of the CLC defect, whose Q factor was higher than those of the other defect modes. They have confirmed the appearance of the additional mode experimentally. Single-mode laser action with low pumping threshold was observed in a 1D HPC with a dye-doped CLC defect, which is based on the additional defect mode with a high Q factor peculiar to the CLC defect having periodic structure.