Abstract

Plasmonically enhanced random lasing in eggshell biomembranes is reported using a hybrid metalorganic system comprised by Rhodamine 6G as gain medium and silver nanoparticles as the plasmonic metal. The scattering mechanism responsible for feedback in the random laser action arises from the submicron randomly arranged structure of the eggshell biomembrane. The measured spectral narrowing in the biomembranes without Ag is of the same order as of the Ag-infiltrated biomembrane, showing an emission linewidth reduction from similar to 45 +/- 2 nm below threshold to similar to 5.0 +/- 0.5 nm above threshold. On the other hand, the effect of the plasmon enhancement is clearly seen in the emitted random laser intensity, which is more efficient and with a lower threshold in the presence of the Ag nanoparticles. We also investigated the spatial behavior of the random laser emission, which shows hot spots with higher intensity in the presence of the Ag nanoparticles, arising from the plasmonic enhancement.