Transient grating formation in azo-doped polymer and its application to DNA-based tunable dye laser

• Dynamic grating formation in azo dye DR1 doped PMMA is investigated.
• Bi-layered device with DR1/PMMA and laser dye/DNA complex is fabricated.
• Laser emission and wavelength tuning are achieved with optical pumping.

In order to realize tunable lasing from DNA-complex thin films doped with laser dye, we made a two-layered device composed of a laser active film and a grating layer for wavelength selection. We characterized the dynamic response of azo dye doped polymer under excitation with a pulsed laser, finding that transient grating was available under adequate pumping conditions. By fabricating a bi-layered device with dye-doped DNA-lipid and azo-PMMA layers and exciting with three beams of pulsed laser, we demonstrated laser emission and indicated the possibility of practical dynamic tuning in red wavelength region.