Several biological membranes have been served as scattering materials of random lasers, but few of them include natural photonic crystals. Here, we propose and demonstrate a facile approach to fabricating high-performance biological photonic crystal random lasers, which is cost-effective and reproducible for mass production. As a benchmark, optical and lasing properties of dye-coated Lepidoptera wings, including Papilio ulysses butterfly and Chrysiridia rhipheus moth, are characterized and show a stable laser emission with a superior threshold of 0.016 mJ/cm2, as compared to previous studies. To deploy the proposed devices in practical implementation, we have applied the as-fabricated biological devices to bright speckle-free imaging applications, which is a more sustainable and more accessible imaging strategy.

The resonant energy transfer enhancement from a plasmonic random laser has been investigated by means of a dye-covered PVA film embedded with silver nanoplates with different sizes and morphologies.

Random lasers had been made by some biomaterials as light scattering materials, but natural photonic crystals have been rarely reported as scattering materials. Here we demonstrate the ability of natural photonic crystals to drive laser actions by sandwiched the feathers of the Turquoise-Fronted Amazon parrot and dye between two plastic films. Parrot feathers comprise abundant photonic crystals, and different color feathers compose of different ratios of the photonic crystal, which directly affect the feather reflectance. In this study, the multi-reflection scattering that occurred at the interface between the photonic crystal and gain media efficiently reduce the threshold; therefore, the more photonic crystal constitutes in the feathers; the lower threshold can be obtained. The random lasers can be easily made by the integration of bird feather photonic crystals and dye with a simple and sustainable manufacturing approach.

Random lasers had been made by some biomaterials as light scattering materials, but natural photonic crystals have been rarely reported as scattering materials. Here we demonstrate the ability of natural photonic crystals to drive laser actions by sandwiched the feathers of the Turquoise-Fronted Amazon parrot and dye between two plastic films. Parrot feathers comprise abundant photonic crystals, and different color feathers compose of different ratios of the photonic crystal, which directly affect the feather reflectance. In this study, the multi-reflection scattering that occurred at the interface between the photonic crystal and gain media efficiently reduce the threshold; therefore, the more photonic crystal constitutes in the feathers; the lower threshold can be obtained. The random lasers can be easily made by the integration of bird feather photonic crystals and dye with a simple and sustainable manufacturing approach.