Characterization of semiconducting polymer laser materials and the prospects for diode lasers

By measuring the gain and loss in thin film planar waveguides using a stand ard technique developed for inorganic laser materials, we show that the nar row-line emission from photopumped waveguides of the conjugated polymer pol y(2-butyl-5-(2'- ethyl-hexyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (BuEH-PPV) results fro m amplification of spontaneous emission (ASE). The narrowed linewidth of th e ASE spectrum is determined by gain saturation. The techniques presented o ffer a simple and useful way for evaluating conjugated polymer as materials for solid state lasers. The prospects for making polymer diode lasers are discussed.