Plasmonic Carbon-Dot-Decorated Nanostructured Semiconductors for Efficient and Tunable Random Laser Action

Carbon dots have emerged as popular materials in various research fields, including biological and photovoltaic areas, while significant reports are lacking related to their applications in laser devices, which play a significant role in our daily life. In this work, we demonstrate the first controllable random laser assisted by the surface plasmon effect of carbon dots. Briefly, carbon dots derived from candle soot are randomly deposited on the surface of gallium nitride (GaN) nanorods to enhance the ultraviolet fluorescence of GaN and generate plasmonically enhanced random laser action with coherent feedback. Furthermore, potentially useful functionalities of tunable lasing threshold and controllable optical modes are achieved by adjusting the numbers of carbon dots, enabling applications in optical communication and identification technologies. In addition to providing an efficient alternative for plasmonically enhanced random laser devices with simple fabrication and low cost, our work also paves a useful route for the application of environmentally friendly carbon dots in optoelectronic devices.