"In our work, we demonstrated that multi-modal lasing with control over the different colours can be achieved in a single device," said Professor Teri W. Odom.
"Compared to traditional lasers, our work is unprecedented for its stable multi-modal nanoscale lasing and our ability to achieve detailed and fine control over the lasing beams."
Using this technology, the researchers say they can control the colour and intensity of the light by simply varying its cavity architecture.
Nanoparticle superlattices – finite-arrays of metal nanoparticles grouped into microscale arrays – integrated with liquid gain offer a platform to access different colours with tuneable intensities depending simply on the geometric parameters of the lattice.
Currently in the industry, multi-colour lasing output is only possible by putting together many single-colour lasers. This new work could potentially provide a strategy to eliminate costly fabrication processes and to directly produce multiple, stable lasing peaks from a single device.
"In humans, our perception of the world would be limited if we only 'saw' in a single colour," Professor Odom said. "Multiple colours are essential for us to receive and process information at the same time, and in the same way, multi-colour lasers have the potential for tremendous benefits in daily life."
According to the researchers, the work offers possibilities for ultra-sensitive sensing in chemical processes by monitoring different molecules simultaneously and in-situ cellular imaging at multiple colours using dye labels to excite different laser colours to which different biological processes could be correlated.
