Liquid-crystal lasers

Liquid-crystal lasers are a burgeoning area in the field of soft-matter photonics that may herald a new era of ultrathin, highly versatile laser sources. Such lasers encompass a multitude of remarkable features, including wideband tunability, large coherence area and, in some cases, multidirectional emission. They have the potential to combine large output powers with miniature cavity dimensions — two properties that have traditionally been incompatible. Their potential applications are diverse, ranging from miniature medical diagnostic tools to large-area holographic laser displays. Here we discuss the scientific origins of this technology and give a brief synopsis of the cutting-edge research currently being carried out worldwide.