New laser hybrid materials based on POSS copolymers

We report on the design and synthesis of new laser hybrid materials based on dye-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) cross-linked with octa(methyl methacrylate)-POSS (polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes). The enhancement of the thermal and optical properties of these hybrid matrices lead to the best laser action reported to date for different dye-doped solid matrices, independently on the chromophore nature. These results are a strong indication that these new photosensitized materials could be a universal matrix to optimize solid-state laser actions of different dyes.The materials described in this work and their utilization in solid-state dye lasers are covered by Spanish Patent No. P200800220 filed on January 2008. This work was financed by the Spanish CICYT (Project MAT2007-65778-C02- 01). V.M. thanks CSIC for her JAE-Doc postdoctoral contractPeer reviewe