La Parrhêsia tragique: l'exemple d'un échec

How can we speak to Phaedra, a woman madly in love? By analyzing what might be understood as a failure of the nurse’s parrhêsia in Seneca’s tragedy (Act I, v. 85-173), I aim to interpret frankness of speech (in the transition from Greek to Latin) as an art of truth-telling, between rhetorical pomposity and an excess of licentia, as this failure makes implicitly clear. Frankness of speech is authorised by the bond that exists between the two speakers, so that three essential questions can be asked: what to say and how to say it ? Who is the parrhesiast speaking to? And finally who is speaking

Characteristics of GaInNAsSb VCSELs operating near 1.55µm

A detailed study of the high-power pulsed operation of C-band optically-pumped GaInNAsSb vertical cavity surface emitting lasers is reported. The devices employ a resonant periodic gain structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a GaAs substrate with a 31-pair GaAs/AlAs bottom distributed Bragg reflector and a 4-λ, GaAs-based resonant cavity containing 10 GaInNAsSb quantum wells distributed among the 7 antinodes of the electric field. A dual-pump-band SiO2/TiO2 dielectric top mirror allows efficient optical pumping via low reflectivities at 808nm and 1064nm while providing very high reflectivity at the 1.55μm target emission wavelength. The laser characteristics were evaluated using both a Q-switched Nd:YAG 1064nm pump and a 20W-peak 180ns-pulsed 850nm diode laser. The importance of the gain-cavity detuning was evident from time-dependent spectral measurements of laser material subjected to post-growth annealing at different temperatures between 725 and 775°C. The highest annealing temperature produces the largest blue shift of the gain peak relative to the cavity resonance, resulting in the best power transfer characteristics as well as reduced temperature sensitivity

CdSxSe1-x/ZnS semiconductor nanocrystal laser with sub 10kW/cm² threshold and 40nJ emission output at 600 nm

A colloidal quantum dot laser emitting at 600 nm with a sub 10kW/cm2 threshold at 5ns pulse pumping is reported. The device has a second order distributed feedback cavity for vertical emission and incorporates a bilayer planar waveguide structure based on a film of yellow-orange alloyed-core/shell CdSxSe1-x/ZnS quantum dots over-coated with polyvinyl alcohol. A study of the amplified spontaneous regime indicates that the quantum dot gain region behaves like a quasi-three level system and that the bilayer structure design increases the modal gain compared to a single layer of quantum dots. An output of 40nJ per pulse is measured for a total pump-to-signal efficiency above threshold of 3%

Gb/s visible light communications with colloidal quantum dot color converters

This paper reports the utilization of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots as color converters for Gb/s visible light communications. We briefly review the design and properties of colloidal quantum dots and discuss them in the context of fast color conversion of InGaN light sources, in particular in view of the effects of self-absorption. This is followed by a description of a CQD/polymer composite format of color converters. We show samples of such color-converting composite emitting at green, yellow/orange and red wavelengths, and combine these with a blueemitting microsize LED to form hybrid sources for wireless visible light communication links. In this way data rates up to 1 Gb/s over distances of a few tens of centimeters have been demonstrated. Finally, we broaden the discussion by considering the possibility for wavelength division multiplexing as well as the use of alternative colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals

Diode-pumped, mechanically-flexible polymer DFB laser encapsulated by glass membranes

A diode-pumped, mechanically-flexible organic distributed-feedback laser that is fully encapsulated with ultra-thin glass is reported. The organic laser is excited by 450nm laser diode and emits at 537 nm with an oscillation threshold of 290 W/cm2. The encapsulation format of the device results in a photostability that is improved by two orders of magnitude compared to a non-encapsulated reference device while maintaining mechanical flexibility thanks to an overall device thickness below 105 μm. The laser is also wavelength-tunable between 535 nm and 545 nm by bending the ultra-thin glass structure

Organic semiconductor laser biosensor : design and performance discussion

Organic distributed feedback lasers can detect nanoscale materials and are therefore an attractive sens- ing platform for biological and medical applications. In this paper, we present a model for optimizing such laser sensors and discuss the advantages of using an organic semiconductor as the laser material in comparison to dyes in a matrix. The structure of the sensor and its operation principle are described. Bulk and surface sensing exper- imental data using oligofluorene truxene macromolecules and a conjugated polymer for the gain region is shown to correspond to modeled values and is used to assess the biosensing attributes of the sensor. A comparison between organic semiconductor and dye-doped laser sensitivity is made and analyzed theoretically. Finally, experimental and theoretical specific biosensing data is provided and methods for improving sensitivity are discussed

RGB and white-emitting organic lasers on flexible glass

Two formats of multiwavelength red, green and blue (RGB) laser on mechanically-flexible glass are demonstrated. In both cases, three all-organic, vertically-emitting distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are assembled onto a common ultra-thin glass membrane substrate and fully encapsulated by a thin polymer overlayer and an additional 50µm-thick glass membrane in order to improve the performance. The first device format has the three DFB lasers sitting next to each other on the glass substrate. The DFB lasers are simultaneously excited by a single overlapping optical pump, emitting spatially separated red, green and blue laser output with individual thresholds of, respectively, 28 µJ/cm2, 11 µJ/cm2 and 32 µJ/cm2 (for 5 ns pump pulses). The second device format has the three DFB lasers, respectively the red, green and blue laser, vertically stacked onto the flexible glass. This device format emits a white laser output for an optical pump fluence above 42 µJ/cm2

Alloyed-core colloidal quantum dot DFB laser with encapsulated gain region

A CdSxSe1−x/ZnS colloidal quantum dot distributed-feedback laser operating in the nanosecond-regime with a threshold below 3 kW/cm2 is reported. The laser emits vertically up to 40 nJ at 600 nm with an efficiency of 1.2%

InGaN micro-LEDs integrated onto an ultra-thin, colloidal quantum dot functionalized glass platform

We demonstrate an integrated color-converting device by transfer printing blue-emitting micro-sized InGaN LEDs onto an ultra-thin glass platform functionally enhanced with colloidal quantum dots. Color conversion and waveguiding properties of the structure are presented

MQW nanomembrane assemblies for visible light communications

We report color-conversion of InGaN LEDs and lasers using an AlInGaP multi-quantum-well nanomembrane. In particular, we demonstrate free-space OOK data transmission at 180 Mb/s from a laser diode blue-to-red converted by a heterogeneous nanomembrane/sapphire lens assembly