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Electrically driven random lasing from a modified Fabry-Perot laser diode

Random lasers (RLs) are intriguing devices with promising applications as light sources for imaging, sensing, super resolution spectral analysis or complex networks engineering. RLs can be obtained from optically pumped dyes, optical fibers and crystals, or electrically pumped semiconductor heterostructures. Semicon-ductor RLs are usually fabricated by introducing scattering defects into the active layer, adding a degree of complexity to the fabrication process and losing the ease of realization potentially offered by disordered structures. Ready availability of electrically pumped RLs, avoiding costly fabrication approach, would boost the use of these devices in research and applications. Here, we realize an incoherent semiconductor RL by simply processing the output mirror of an off-the-shelf Fabry-Perot laser diode via controlled laser ablation. Optical feedback provided by the intact back mirror and the ablated front mirror results in multi-mode ran-dom lasing with low spatial coherence and speckled output emission profile.