Temperature tunable omnidirectional lasing in liquid crystal blue phase microspheres

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate micro resonators made of liquid crystal blue phase (BP) microspheres, embedded in a polymer/water matrix. The omnidirectional 3D lasing from BPII and BPI microspheres and the temperature-controlled laser tuning within the range of 55 nm from the BPI microspheres were observed for the first time. The potential applications of BPs microlasers range from temperature-controllable, omnidirectional, coherent light micro sources to informational displays and micro sensing devices.