At St. Andrews University in the UK, research-ers have constructed a broadband optical amplifier using a dilute solution of the conjugated polymer OC₁C₁₀-PPV as a gain medium. They expect that the liquid amplifier will be a stepping-stone to developing solid-state polymer amplifiers that could be easily and cheaply integrated into optical fiber networks.

They reported in the April 29 issue of Applied Physics Letters that the medium's broad photoluminescence spectrum provided 30 to 40 dB of gain over a wavelength range of 575 to 640 nm and 50-THz bandwidth. The gain saturation followed that of a typical homogeneously broadened gain medium.