Abstract

We report a series of picosecond excite-probe and femtosecond continuum excite-probe experiments performed on solutions of organic dyes. These experiments show the dynamics and spectral range of utility for these materials which have shown promise for applications in optical limiting devices. The metallo-organic dye solutions used were: Silicon Naphthalocyanine (SiNc) in methanol, tetrakis(β-cumylphenoxy) Lead Phthalocyanine (PbPc(β-CP)₄) in chloroform and Zinc meso-Tetra(p-methoxyphenyl)Tetrabenzporphyrin (ZnTMOTBP) in tetrahydrofuran (THF). Initial studies involved Z-Scan and picosecond pump-probe measurements on these solutions at 532 nm.[1-3] All of these materials exhibited large reverse saturable absorption (RSA), i.e. the excited-state cross-section is larger than that of the ground-state.

© 1996 Optical Society of America