• Infrared and Laser Engineering
  • Vol. 49, Issue 12, 20201052 (2020)
Wenyu Du1, Zhijia Hu2、*, Zhigang Cao2, Guosheng Zhang1, Yan Wang1, Weidong Luo1, and Benli Yu1
Author Affiliations
  • 1Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Information Acquisition and Manipulation of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Materials Science, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
  • 2Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Information Acquisition and Manipulation of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Materials Science, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
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    DOI: 10.3788/IRLA20201052 Cite this Article
    Wenyu Du, Zhijia Hu, Zhigang Cao, Guosheng Zhang, Yan Wang, Weidong Luo, Benli Yu. Review of random laser research (Invited)[J]. Infrared and Laser Engineering, 2020, 49(12): 20201052 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    Due to its unique structure and low coherence, random lasers are widely used in fields such as speckle-free imaging, sensing, and light therapy. The feedback mechanism of random lasers is light scattering introduced by disordered media. High threshold and non-directionality are its main disadvantages. In order to solve these problems, researchers used the one-dimensional confinement of optical fibers to obtain random fiber lasers with a low threshold and a certain directionality. In the past ten years, the development of random lasers has experienced a process from incoherent feedback to coherent feedback, from complete disorder to controllable output parameters. A large number of studies have tried to explain the physical nature of random lasers using quantum theory, chaotic laser theory, and numerical analysis. The origin and development history of random lasers and random fiber lasers were reviewed, the classification and related principles of random lasers were introduced, the methods of controlling random laser output parameters were summarized, the recent typical applications of random lasers were demonstrated, fiber random lasers feedback types and gain mechanisms were analyzed, and finally the future of random lasers development was prospected.
    Wenyu Du, Zhijia Hu, Zhigang Cao, Guosheng Zhang, Yan Wang, Weidong Luo, Benli Yu. Review of random laser research (Invited)[J]. Infrared and Laser Engineering, 2020, 49(12): 20201052
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