Can 1,2-dioxetanedione (active ingredient in glow sticks) undergo stimulated emission (and thus form a laser)? In common glowsticks, diphenyl oxalate reacts with hydrogen peroxide, forming 1,2-dioxetanedione. The dioxetanedione is unstable, but direct decomposition to carbon dioxide is a forbidden transition, so this can only happen in a reaction with another molecule. If the other molecule is a suitable fluophore dye, the dye molecule will become exited and then emit a photon of light. (The color depending on the fluophore used.)

Some types of lasers make use of forbidden transitions: atoms or molecules are brought into an excited state such that the transition to the ground state is forbidden and thus slowed down. This causes the exited state molecules to collect, forming a population inversion. The excited molecules can then undergo stimulated emission in a resonance cavity, producing the laser effect.

Now my question is if 1,2-dioxetanedione can also be made to undergo stimulated emission if the glow stick chemical reaction takes place in a suitable optical resonance cavity. (It looks to me like it should, but my chemistry knowledge is not enough for this.)

Alternatively, if the 1,2-dioxetanedione cannot undergo stimulated emission, could a suitably chosen dye molecule?
The activated complex 1,2-dioxetanedione can't undergo simulated emissions as it isn't the emitting molecule even in glow-sticks: it is the source of the activation energy for other dyes.

But most emitting dyes can be used in suitably configured lasers by providing energy as photons (=light) of a higher energy and a suitable wavelength in a suitable device. Whether they would make good lasers depends on a whole bunch of other factors (like how easy it is for them to absorb light, whether the subsequent transitions are forbidden or not (can't easily get population inversion if they are not) and various quantum efficiencies of the relevant conversions in the dye molecule.)

Dye lasers have been known since 1966. They have some advantages over more conventional lasers as they are often wavelength tunable (as dyes tend to have broad emission lines) and can often achieve very short pulses. Rhodamine 6G is a common laser dye but the dyes in a glow-stick may not be as good in lasers, though, in principle, there is no reason why not.