Laser emission from a dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal pumped by another cholesteric liquid crystal laser

We report the observation of laser emission from a luminescent dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) excited by another dye-doped CLC laser. The idea is based on the cascade of two CLC cells containing two different dyes where the emission band of the first overlaps the absorption band of the second. This system of low threshold mirrorless lasers emphasizes the main advantages of these organic materials for lasing applications and identifies a simple laser device. Preliminary characterizations of these CLC laser systems produce evidence of remarkable features that suggest fascinating developments. The main aspects are related to the wavelength tunability of the laser emission and to the miniaturization of the device.