Pursuing electrically pumped lasing with organic semiconductors

Electrically pumped organic lasers have been eagerly sought for several decades, although they have not been fully demonstrated yet. Recently, impressive progresses have been made with respect to molecular design, theoretical prediction, and device fabrication for light-emitting organic semiconductors. In this perspective, we outline the key issues of balanced optical gain, carrier mobility, and excitonic losses as well as other challenges associated with electrical pump of organic lasers after examining the breakthroughs made in recent efforts. Then, we provide a concise overview of several potential solutions to the challenges from the viewpoint of lasing principle by exploring the relationship between lasing emissions and molecular structures, device engineering, and exciton dynamics, which might stand out as the most promising way toward the pursuit of electrically driven lasing with organic semiconductors.