In Vivo Speckle Contrast Imaging Constructed by Threshold-tunable Random Lasers

Abstract

The application of random lasers has been restricted owing to the absence of well-defined resonant cavity, as the lasing action mainly depends on multiple light scatterings induced by intrinsic disorders of laser medium to establish the required optical feedbacks, and hence that increases the difficulty to efficiently tune and modulate random lasing emissions. In this study, we investigate the case that the transport mean free path of emitted photons within the disordered scatterers, which is composed by the ZnO nanowires, is tunable by a curvature bending applied on the flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate underneath, thereby creating a unique light source which is able to be operated above and below the lasing threshold for desirable spectral emissions. The developed curvature-tunable random laser, for the first time, is implemented for in vivo biological imaging with much lower speckle noise when compared to the non-lasing situation through a simple mechanical bending, which is of great potential for studying the fast-moving physiological phenomenon like blood flow patterns in mouse's ear skins. As a result, we expect the experimental demonstration on the curvature-tunable random laser can open up a new route towards developing disorder based optoelectronic devices.