Stable doped hybrid sol-gel materials for solid-state dye laser

Abstract

Laser effects have been obtained with dye-doped hybrid xerogel samples prepared several years ago and stored in different "classical" conditions. Firstly, using the same configuration of the laser cavity as was used 4-5 years ago, we have obtained almost identical laser performances, and slope conversion efficiencies were measured up to 80% and operational lifetimes, with 1-mJ initial output energy and 10-Hz repetition rate of several hundred thousand pulses obtained. Secondly, we have introduced the new pyrromethene 605 dye into a hybrid xerogel matrix and obtained good laser performances similar to the rest of the pyrromethene family.

Synthetic Strategies for Hybrid Materials to Improve Properties for Optoelectronic Applications

“…The photostability exhibited by this system is one of the highest achieved up to date for PM567 laser dye in inorganic and solgel hybrid matrices without rotating or translating the medium to distribute the thermal load over a large volume. [6,9,10,12,17,21] The presence of pyridine reduces the laser lifetimes to values even lower than those exhibited by PM567 embedded into pure organic hosts, where the laser emission from the dye dissolved in lineal and cross-linked matrices of MMA with different co-monomers and pumped under identical experimental conditions, remained up to 80% of the initial value after 45,000 pump pulses at 10 Hz repetition rate. [33] These results confirm that the presence of TSPDA as neutralization agent in the synthesis route of hybrid matrices based on copolymers of MMA/HEMA 1/1 v/v proportion with increasing amounts of TRIEOS optimizes the laser action of PM567.…”

“…[1,2] Moreover, the quality of the Si-O-Si network is excellent in terms of transparency and thermal and chemical stability, resulting in stable materials with chemical and physical properties well defined, which nevertheless can be modified by a judicious choice of the organic and inorganic components. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] One of the synthesis routes of these hybrid materials is based on the simultaneous and ''in situ'' sol-gel process of the inorganic part, catalyzed in an acid media, and the free radical polymerization of the organic monomer part. These hybrid materials exhibit attractive features and unique properties to be used as hosts for organic dyes acting as active media in solid-state dye lasers, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] since they combine the excellent thermal properties of inorganic glasses [22][23][24][25] with the excellent optical properties and dye compatibility of polymeric materials.…”

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] One of the synthesis routes of these hybrid materials is based on the simultaneous and ''in situ'' sol-gel process of the inorganic part, catalyzed in an acid media, and the free radical polymerization of the organic monomer part. These hybrid materials exhibit attractive features and unique properties to be used as hosts for organic dyes acting as active media in solid-state dye lasers, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] since they combine the excellent thermal properties of inorganic glasses [22][23][24][25] with the excellent optical properties and dye compatibility of polymeric materials. [25][26][27][28][29][30] Confirming the above specifications, when the laser dye Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) was incorporated into hybrid matrices based on copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2-hydroxyethyl-methacrylate (HEMA) as organic component, and hydrolyzed-condensated methyltriethoxysilane (TRIEOS) as inorganic counterpart, highly photostable laser action was obtained, with no sign of degradation in the initial laser output after 100,000 pump pulses, in the same position of the sample, and at 10 Hz repetition rate.…”

Materials for a Reliable Solid‐State Dye Laser at the Red Spectral Edge

“…Taking into account that hybrid organicinorganic materials have been used to good effect in improving the thermal resistance of the host without losing the benefits provided by the polymers, [16][17][18][19] the dyes were also dissolved in silicon-modified organic matrices. The presence of monomers containing silicon atoms in their backbone, such as 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (TMSPMA), avoids the problems related to sol-gel hybrid organicinorganic matrices (complex and lengthy synthesis process, fragility of the final materials, which renders their mechanizing and polishing difficult, and optical inhomogeneity caused by refractive index mismatch between organic and inorganic parts) while maintaining its organic character, which means good dye solubility, plasticity, and easy synthesis but with improved thermal properties.…”

Controllable transport mean free path of light in xerogel matrixes embedded with polystyrene spheres

“…This low-temperature synthesis allows the inclusion of fluorescent dyes or other optically active molecules [15]. The xerogel matrices, resulting from the sol-gel process, can be used for a number of applications, for example, to study the photophysics of dye molecules and their interactions with the matrix [16,17,18]; use as solid state lasers [19,20,21,22]; sensors [23]; non-linear effects [24] and holograms for data storage [25]. Using laser dyes in xerogel matrices where a controllable level of multiple scattering has been introduced is sure to be a fruitful model system for a variety random laser studies.…”