Lasing in optically manipulated, dye-doped emulsion microdroplets

We introduce a portable, all-liquid microlaser based on optically pumped dye-doped emulsion microdroplets held in a single beam optical trap. We show high stability of the laser emission spectra during prolonged optical manipulation of the droplets within an immiscible host liquid. We investigate the effects of droplet size and dye concentration on the spectral position of lasing wavelength and show how these parameters can be used for the emission wavelength tuning. We also study shifting of the average lasing wavelength to the blue side of the spectrum due to dye photobleaching. The presented optically manipulated fluidic microlasers are disposable and can be easily combined with microfluidic chip technology. This makes them especially attractive for on-chip applications in chemical and biological analysis and sensing. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.