Advancing multi-wavelength liquid crystal laser microcavities in a compact prototype device using a laser diode pump source

For several decades there has been much discussion within the liquid crystal laser community that a semiconductor-based pump source would offer a significant improvement compared to the typical method of Q-switched laser pumping in terms of cost, size and commercial viability of liquid crystal lasers. By combining specialist driver electronics with a high-power 445 nm laser diode and using in-house fabricated liquid crystal laser cells, we demonstrate the first diode-pumped liquid crystal laser capable of producing linewidths ≤ 1.5 nm in the blue, green, yellow and red regions of the visible spectrum. Using the same 445 nm laser diode pump source, a spinning liquid crystal laser set-up is presented, enabling an average output power of 10 μW at a repetition rate of 20 kHz – the highest repetition rate published to-date. We also present the design of the first portable diode-pumped liquid crystal laser prototype device, with spinning and wavelength selectivity capabilities. We anticipate this improvement in pump source, repetition rate and form-factor will offer a major step forward in bringing applications of this relatively unexplored area in photonics closer to realization, such as in fluorescence microscopy and laser-based displays.