A random laser that used to be chaotic and unpredictable can now be reprogrammed using an electric field.
Random lasers are made from messy materials that scatter light in unpredictable ways, making them hard to use for precision work. This new design uses nanowires that can be aligned in real-time using an electric field to control that disorder. By changing the alignment, researchers can tune the laser's output and direction on the fly. This turns a chaotic physical process into a reliable and customizable tool. This technology could lead to flexible, glowing sensors that can be woven into clothing.
Taming Randomness in Random Lasers: Programmable Disorder for Active Control of Random Lasing via Electric-Field-Directed Assembly of Nanowires
arXiv · 2604.26162
Random lasing exploits multiple scattering to provide optical feedback without conventional resonant cavities, enabling simplified architectures that are readily integrated into compact photonic platforms such as wearable sensors and lab-on-chip devices. However, the same disorder that enables cavity-free lasing also makes it challenging to control and tune the emission properties. Here, an electrically reconfigurable random-lasing platform based on dielectrophoretic assembly of chaining silver