DNA–CTMA Matrix Influence on Rhodamine 610 Light Emission in Thin Films

Abstract

Due to the increased application of lasers in different fields (industry, medicine, etc.), there is a growing need for new laser sources with good beam quality and variable emission wavelength. At the same time, for environmental reasons, the obtaining of novel eco-friendly active optical materials, such as those based on the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) biopolymer, with optimal light emission properties, is of high interest. The results obtained in this study of the temporal dependence of the transmittance and of the light emission in thin films of DNA–CTMA–Rhodamine 610 (at different Rhodamine concentrations) (DNA–CTMA–Rh610), when they are illuminated with continuous wave laser light at 532 nm (frequently used in the optical pumping of dye lasers), are presented and discussed. The transmittance results obtained for thin film samples are compared to those obtained for the DNA–CTMA–Rh610 solutions in butanol, from which the films have been made, and also with those obtained for Rh610 solutions in butanol with the same concentrations. The investigation was performed in order to assess the influence of the DNA-CTMA and of the green laser light at 532 nm wavelength on relevant chromophore properties such as light transmission and fluorescence emission. The results obtained revealed that the DNA–CTMA matrix has an active influence on the Rhodamine 610 emission, in the whole range of concentrations of the investigated samples.

Optical Limiting Properties of DNA Biopolymer Doped with Natural Dyes

“…Natural dyes are emerging as an important class of biodegradable optical materials used for modern applications in optics and photonics, security, and safety and have been intensely studied in recent years due to their interesting photosensitive properties [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) functionalized with different synthetic dyes, e.g., Rhodamine B, Disperse Red 1 [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], represents novel materials with practical applications in photonics. Biopolymers doped with natural dyes are emerging as a new class of optical materials with interesting photosensitive properties.…”

“…Its particular, double-stranded helical structure shows that it can be used as scaffolding for incorporating functional molecules, allowing the development of photonic, electronic, and opto-electronic devices [ 6 , 22 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. Moreover, there is a lot of free space to functionalize it with different dyes to obtain and tailor desired properties for targeted practical applications [ 4 , 5 , 22 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. DNA can be used in fast photoinduced responses, improved nonlinear optical effects in DNA compounds [ 46 , 47 ], as well as in other future applications in nanotechnology [ 48 , 49 , 50 ].…”