Sub-picosecond pulses from a gain-switched polymer distributed feedback laser

The emission dynamics of polymer distributed feedback lasers have been studied following excitation by femtosecond laser pulses. The lasers were found to generate pulses as short as 800 fs. The dynamics were investigated as a function of pump power and excitation spot size. Simple rate equations modeling the amplification of spontaneous emission are shown to describe the behavior of the lasing dynamics observed. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.