Using modeling we investigated the physics behind the possibilities of using E.coli as a laser cavity or lenses. Therefore we have modeled the various components of our system using ray- and wave optics, as well as kinetic- and dynamic models, solved using analytical- and numerical simulation techniques. Using our models we predicted the physical limitations of using E.coli as a laser cavity. In order to understand what lasing cells are and how to achieve them, we need to get some background knowledge on conventional lasers first. We will give a short introduction to lasers below, but we also made a more detailed description of lasers, which can be found here.

‘Laser’ stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In conventional lasers light resonates in an optical cavity, which is a space between two mirrors filled with a gain medium (figure 1a). The molecules in the gain medium get excited by an excitation source, for example an electric pulse or another laser. When a light particle, a photon, collides with a molecule that is in the excited state (higher-energy state), this molecule will release a copy of the incident photon. This process is called stimulated emission and results in light getting amplified every time it passes through the gain medium.