Polydimethylsiloxane-enclosed liquid crystal lasers for lab-on-chip applications

We demonstrate the operation of a self-organized cholesteric liquid crystal laser confined between optically clear and elastic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. The formation of a planar helical texture in the cholesteric was supported by microsctructuring of PDMS layer surface, using the nanoembossing technique with glass substrates coated with conventional alignment layers as a template. The potential of combining miniature cholesteric laser sources and microfluidic devices for lab-on-chip applications is discussed.