Laser Systems and Networks with Organic Nanowires and Nanofibers

The potentialities of miniaturized laser sources are still far from being fully developed. Unprecedented opportunities are generated in this field by organic nanowires and nanofibers, which can be used as building blocks of micro- and nanolasers in which they combine optical gain, waveguiding, and very high versatility to create nanophotonic networks. The progress in laser devices and network architectures based on optically pumped organic light-emitting nanowires and nanofibers is here presented, with emphasis on developed active materials, fabrication technologies, lasing mechanisms, and cavity geometries, and on achieved device performance in terms of spectral tunability, excitation threshold, and resonator quality factors. Recent examples of optical coupling of different miniaturized lasers, of their application in optical sensing, and of network lasers are presented. Future directions for research are also outlined, which include the exploration of new classes of active organic or hybrid materials within nanowires, the more in-depth characterization of the fundamental properties of these lasers, and the use of topologically defined organic nanophotonics in network science, computing, and diagnostics.