Amplified Spontaneous Emission in Semiconductor‐Nanocrystal/Synthetic‐Opal Composites: Optical‐Gain Enhancement via a Photonic Crystal Pseudogap

Abstract

Novel materials consisting of titania sol–gel/CdSe- or PbSe-nanocrystal (NC) nanocomposites infiltrated into polystyrene opal photonic crystals (PCs) are presented (see Figure). These composites exhibit efficient amplified spontaneous emission at decreased thresholds relative to the reference sol–gel/NC materials, despite the lower volume loading of NCs in the photonic structures. This work points toward tunable NC/PC lasers that can benefit from the easy manipulation of NC emission properties and PC band positions.