Gunenthiran, S.Wang, J.Zhao, W.Law, S.Lim, S.Y.McInnes, J.A.Ebendorff-Heidepriem, H.Abell, A.D.Alwahabi, Z.T.Santos, A.2022-06-222022-06-222022ACS Photonics, 2022; 9(4):1226-12392330-40222330-4022https://hdl.handle.net/2440/135587Nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA) is an emerging platform material for photonics and light-based applications. However, demonstrations of narrow bandwidth lasing emissions from this optical material remain limited. Here, we demonstrate that narrow bandwidth NAA-based gradient-index filters (NAAGIFs) can be optically engineered to achieve high-quality visible lasing. NAA-GIFs fabricated by a modified sinusoidal pulse anodization approach feature a well-resolved, intense, high-quality photonic stopband (PSB). The inner surface of NAA-GIFs is functionalized with rhodamine B (RhoB) fluorophore molecules through micellar solubilization of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant. Systematic variation of the ratio of SDS and RhoB enables the precise engineering of the light-emitting functional layer to maximize light-driven lasing associated with the slow photon effect at the red edge of NAA-GIFs’ PSB. It is found that the optimal surfactant-to-fluorophore ratio, namely, 20 mM SDS to 0.81 mM RhoB, results in a strong, polarized lasing at ∼612 nm. This lasing was characterized by a remarkably high-quality−gain product of ∼536, a Purcell factor of 2.2, a lasing threshold of ∼0.15 mJ per pulse, and a high-quality polarization ratio of ∼0.7. Our results benefit the advancement of the NAA-based lasing technology for a variety of photonic disciplines such as sensing, tweezing, light harvesting, and photodetection.en© 2022 American Chemical Society.laser emission; nanoporous photonic crystal; fluorophore functionalization; photonic engineeringJournal article10.1021/acsphotonics.1c016892022-06-22605434Gunenthiran, S. [0000-0002-8505-6104]Zhao, W. [0000-0001-5916-9669]Law, S. [0000-0002-3276-8052]Lim, S.Y. [0000-0002-5677-9039]McInnes, J.A. [0000-0003-4006-9398]Ebendorff-Heidepriem, H. [0000-0002-4877-7770]Abell, A.D. [0000-0002-0604-2629]Alwahabi, Z.T. [0000-0003-4831-7798]Santos, A. [0000-0002-5081-5684]