New hybrid organic-inorganic materials synthesized at room temperature and doped with laser dyes have been tested for laser action. The new ormosil material has excellent optical properties and is an effective host for many organic molecules. Two members of the perylene family of laser dyes, which are characterized by increased degrees of photostability, have been successfully incorporated into this host. The spectroscopic properties of the perylene dyes are not significantly altered by incorporation into ormosil. Dye doped samples with polished faces have been studied by longitudinal excitation in a compact cavity by the second harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser emitting 27 mJ in 6 ns pulses at 532 nm. Aspects of laser performance including slope efficiency, photostability, and output wavelength are reported. Experiments were conducted to establish the normalized photostability, which is the accumulated pump energy absorbed by the system per mole of dye molecules in the gain region before the output pulse energy falls to one-half of its initial value. These measurements allow a comparison between different dyes and hosts.

Date Published: 13 October 1994
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 2288, Sol-Gel Optics III, (13 October 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.188971

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2288:
Sol-Gel Optics III
John D. Mackenzie, Editor(s)