Fabrication of and Ultraviolet Lasing in TPE/PMMA Polymer Nanowires

We fabricated tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanowires in the channels of anodic aluminum oxide template. Strong blue photoluminescence from the TPE aggregates in the polymer nanowires was observed. Room temperature ultraviolet lasing can be achieved in as-prepared TPE/PMMA nanowires. Lasing from isolated individual nanowires at 372 nm with emission width of 0.3 nm was also observed at low temperature. Ultrafast emission decay of ∼34 ps from the 372 nm peak pumped above threshold verified the stimulated emission nature of the lasing process. Our result shows that combining small molecules with highly processable PMMA can result in high-quality polymer nanowires and meanwhile maintain or even enhance the original functionality of the small molecules.