We report on optically pumped lasing from dye-doped, graded-spacing layer structures of dichromate gelatin emulsions fabricated using two-beam holographic interference. The graded layers exhibited deep and wide photonic band gaps. Multimode lasing with both a low threshold and a high quality factor was observed at the band edge of the photonic band gap. We modeled the emissions from the dye-doped graded layer system using a finite difference time domain technique and achieved good agreement with experimental results. © 2008 American Institute of Physics. ͓DOI: 10.1063/1.2907488͔ Photonic crystals exhibiting band gaps in which electromagnetic wave propagation is not possible have attracted much interest due to the potential that they can manipulate photons in optical microdevices.1 Among the many unique properties of photonic crystals, the control of the photonic density of states has a direct effect on the spontaneous emission of photons, which is an important capability in optoelectronics devices such as lasers, 2 light emitting diodes, 3 microwaveguides, 4 and many other promising photonic devices.5 It has been proposed that the enhancement of the spontaneous emissions in one-dimensional ͑1D͒ photonic crystals doped with gain materials is possible because of the localization at the band gaps and the high density of states at the band edges. 6 The realization of this enhancement was first demonstrated in GaAs light-emitting diodes sandwiched between stacks of 1D Bragg reflectors.7 Since then, lasing from dye-doped polymeric multilayers using distributed feedback and defect modes has been observed. 8,9 Recently, studies on band-edge and defect-mode lasing in dye-doped liquid crystals have attracted interest. 10 In these previous studies, equally spaced layers were employed in the systems. Lasing from 1D layers with gradually changing spacings ͑graded layers͒ is expected to be possible as well.One-dimensional stacks have been fabricated using a time-consuming layer-by-layer spin-coating method.7-9 Holographic lithography that employs the interference of multiple coherent beams is more efficient and has been used to fabricate two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional microstructures in photoresists.11 Furthermore, high-resolution holographic gelatin emulsions can be used to record the interference patterns.12,13 One advantage to using holographic gelatin emulsions is that the structure resulting from the interference is self-supporting inside the gelatin. It was further demonstrated that, with a volume hologram made from dichromate gelatin ͑DCG͒, highly efficient and wide-bandgap 1D layer structures could be achieved.14 The wide-bandgap results from the graded spacing of the 1D layers obtained by the differential swelling of the gelatin during the development process.14 Here, we show that lasing from dyedoped 1D graded layers in DCG holographic emulsions fabricated using two-beam interference is possible. Multimode lasing with both a low threshold and a high quality factor was observed at the band edge of the p...