Organic mixed-order photonic crystal lasers with ultrasmall footprint

The lasing properties of an optimized two-dimensional photonic crystal structure with an organic gain material are investigated. The feedback structure which is fabricated in a thin film of Ta2 O5 increases both the index contrast from the gain material as well as the optical confinement. By combining first-order and second-order photonic crystal structures, losses occuring at the edge of the second order structure are dramatically reduced leading to a lower laser threshold and/or to a much smaller footprint of the laser. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.