Two chitosan gel systems, chitosan/acetic anhydride and chitosan/glutaraldehyde, were studied as host materials for optical limiters. Both gels are transparent and have a very high laser damage threshold. The chitosan/acetic anhydride gel has a damage threshold > 540 J/cm2 while the chitosan/glutaraldehyde gel, which is slightly yellow in color, has a damage threshold > 600 J/cm2 (measurements made with 6.8 ns laser pulses at 532 nm). Different chromophore dopants, including porphyrin and CuPc, were tested. The optical limiting behavior of the guest/host gel systems was similar to their corresponding solution systems. The morphological structure of the gel systems was studied and the gelation process is discussed. Our current research explores the effect of gel morphology on the optical limiting properties of the chromophores and studies the relation between chromophores, cross-linking agents and the host materials. We have also investigated the relationship between optical properties and chemical structure of the gel/chromophore systems in order to optimize the optical behavior.

Porphyrins are attractive compounds for optical applications. We have been investigating the relationship between molecular structure and optical properties of a number of porphyrin compounds. Structural variations explored include insertion of metal ions, extension of conjugation, halogenation and formation of multimers. The characterization of these chromophores includes measurement of UV/Vis, fluorescence and fluorescence lifetimes. Furthermore, we have investigated their nonlinear absorption, refraction, excitation dynamics as well as oxidation/reduction behavior. Based on our observations, clear recommendations can be made for the design of optical limiting chromophores.

We characterize the optical properties of modified meso-alkynyl porphyrins by a number of techniques. Our data show that extending the conjugation and incorporating metal in the center of the ring in these molecules serve the objective of tuning the absorption maximum wavelength. We evaluate the optical limiting performance by determining the effective reversesaturable- absorption (RSA) lifetime and the change in the absorption cross-sections. The ultimate optical limiting performance of these molecules is tested in both picosecond and nanosecond regimes.

A survey study of solvent effects on the linear and nonlinear absorption properties of C60 has been done. The nonlinear absorption measurements are done at 694 nm with a Q-switched Nd:YAG pumped dye laser. In conjunction with this study a three level rate equation system has been solved analytically and the model results used to extract effective excited state cross sections. A difference and a ratio are calculated from the effective excited state cross section and the ground state cross section. The analysis demonstrates that it is this difference and the initial transmission which determine the critical fluence for the onset of nonlinear absorption. The saturation behavior is determined by the ratio of the cross sections and the initial transmission. Based on these findings C60 is shown to have some of the highest reported nonlinear absorption properties at 694 nm. The effective excited state cross sections at 694 nm are reported for the solutions and correlations to the solvent types demonstrated.

To develop optical power limiting thin films prepared from water-soluble materials, we have prepared chromophore-doped gelatin thin films. Thin films of gelatin were prepared by spin coating followed by annealing. We also prepared thin films doped with the water-soluble chromophore copper phthalocyanine sodium tetrasulfonate. The films were characterized by film profilometry and optical absorption spectroscopy. Optical power limiting measurements of these films, as well as comparisons with aqueous solution and gels were performed.