Organic Lasers Harnessing Excited State Intramolecular Proton Transfer Process
Chang‐Cun Yan, Xuedong Wang, Liang‐Sheng Liao
Abstract
Excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) molecules are considered to be natural born laser materials because of their intrinsic four-level system. Organic lasers based on ESIPT materials, especially recently developed micro/nanolasers, have been drawing great attention in the past few decades due to their unique photophysical properties, such as ultralow threshold and high-quality value, as well as near-infrared (NIR) and wavelength tunable emission. These photophysical properties facilitate their widespread applications in lasing communication, ultrasensitive sensing, biological imaging, data storage and on-chip optical circuits. In this Review, first, the ESIPT process is introduced concisely. Second, recent advances of ESIPT-based organic lasers in solution, film and crystal states are reviewed. Finally, the current challenges and future development of ESIPT-based organic lasers are presented.