Abstract

In this Letter, we report on the design, fabrication, and implementation of a novel plasmon-mode-driven low-threshold near-infrared (NIR) random laser (RL) in the 850–900 nm range based on plasmonic ZnS@Au core-shell scatterers. Plasmon modes in the NIR region are used for nanoscale scatterer engineering of ZnS@Au core-shell particles to enhance scattering, as against pristine ZnS. This plasmonic scattering enhancement coupled with femtosecond (fs) laser pumping is shown to cause a three-fold lasing threshold reduction from $325\mathrm{\mu J}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ to $100\mathrm{\mu J}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ and a mode $Q$-factor enhancement from 200 to 540 for ZnS@Au-based RL, as compared to pristine ZnS-based RL. Local field enhancement due to plasmonic ZnS@Au scatterers, as evidenced in the finite-difference time-domain simulation, further adds to this enhancement. This work demonstrates a novel scheme of plasmonic mode coupling in the NIR region and fs excitation in a random laser photonic system, overcoming the inherent deficiencies of weak absorption of gain media and poor scattering cross sections of dielectric scatterers for random lasing in the NIR spectrum.

© 2017 Optical Society of America

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