Random lasing in bone tissue

Qinghai Song, Purdue University - Main Campus
Shumin Xiao, Purdue University
Zhengbin Xu, Purdue University - Main Campus
Jingjing Liu, Purdue University - Main Campus
Xuanhao Sun, Purdue University - Main Campus
V. P. Drachev, Birck Nanotechnology Center, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University
V. M. Shalaev, Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University
Ozan Akkus, Purdue University - Main Campus
Young L. Kim, Purdue University - Main Campus

Abstract

Owing to the low-loss and high refractive index variations derived from the basic building block of bone structure, we, for the first time to our knowledge, demonstrate coherent random lasing action originated from the bone structure infiltrated with laser dye, revealing that bone tissue is an ideal biological material for random lasing. Our numerical simulation shows that random lasers are extremely sensitive to subtle structural changes even at nanoscales and can potentially be an excellent tool for probing nanoscale structural alterations in real time as a novel spectroscopic modality. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Discipline(s)

Engineering | Nanoscience and Nanotechnology