Nanotube-based systems for broadband optical limiting: towards an operational system

Nanotube-based systems are good candidates for optical limiting against broadband laser pulses. We explore new routes to improve their limiting performances. We show that the diameter of the nanotubes is a key factor to control the performances. On the other hand, we demonstrate that chemically modified nanotubes can be mixed with organic chromophores, leading to high performance composite limiting systems which are particularly efficient in the nanosecond regime due to the cumulative effects of nonlinear scattering and multiphoton absorption

Multi-spectroscopic investigation of the structure of single-wall carbon nanotubes

We present a multispectroscopic structural study of various nanotube samples with different tube diameters. We determine for each sample the mean bundle and tube diameter as well as the tube diameter distribution. The possibility to work on SWNT of various structural characteristics opens new opportunities to correlate the nanotube structure and their physical properties.Comment: Conf\'{e}rence : 8 au 15 mars 200

Stable photorefractive memory effect in sol-gel materials

International audienceWe report on the synthesis and the optical characterization of a photorefractive sol-gel material which contains nonlinear azo chromophore and carbazole charge transporting molecules. Both of these functional groups are covalently attached to the silica based backbone. Thin sol-gel films exhibit stable optically nonlinear properties: the electro-optic coefficient r13 measured at 633 nm is found to be 17 pm/V one day after corona poling and 15 pm/V after three weeks and over a period of several months. Photorefractivity is demonstrated by two beam coupling experiments without external applied electric field. Sol-gel films present a stable photorefractive memory effect with a net internal gain of 200 cm-

Broadband optical limiting optimisation by combination of carbon nanotubes and two-photon absorbing chromophores in liquids

International audienceWe report here on the optical limiting studies performed with nanosecond laser pulses on several families of multiphoton absorbers in chloroform, with carbon nanotubes suspended in solutions. Performances of these samples are compared with those of simple multiphoton absorber solutions and carbon nanotube suspensions, and the differences observed are interpreted in terms of cumulative NLO effects and adverse aggregation phenomenon

Exfoliation of single-wall carbon nanotubes in aqueous surfactant suspensions: A Raman study

Soumis le 3 Décembre 2003Aqueous suspensions of bundles and individual single-wall carbon nanotubes were prepared with the help of surfactants. We study the changes in the Raman spectra of the suspensions with respect to powders, and of exfoliated tubes with respect to bundles. The radial breathing modes (RBM) upshift in suspensions because of the internal pressure of the liquid. By contrast, no shift is observed in the RBM spectra after exfoliation in the suspensions. However, we demonstrate a selectivity of the exfoliation process for tubes of small diameters

New nonlinear sol-gel films exhibiting photorefractivity

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Fullerene-functionalized carbon nanotubes as improved optical limiting devices

International audienceWe report the synthesis, characterization and optical limiting behavior of a nanohybrid built by grafting C60-fullerenes on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The nonlinear optical limiting properties of the CNT-C60 complex were investigated at wavelengths where C60 does not absorb. We found that the nanohybrid had superior performances to those of CNTs and fullerenes, either taken individually or as a mixture. This enhanced optical limitation of the nanohybrid suggests not only cooperative but also synergistic effects between the two carbon forms. A mechanism involving higher excitonic states of the CNTs formed by Auger recombination of low energy excitons is proposed

Ruthenium(II) Complexes for Two-Photon Absorption-Based Optical Power Limiting

International audienceLong-lived excitation: Novel bifluorene-substituted 1,10-phenanthroline-based RuII coordination complexes are presented (see picture). They fulfil several requirements for optimized optical power limiting in the visible-NIR, as they are stable, soluble and transparent at low laser fluences. The two-photon absorption of these complexes are strongly related to those of the ligand

A novel ruthenium(ii) complex for two-photon absorption-based optical power limiting in the near-IR range

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