Optical gain and photo-bleaching of organic dyes, quantum dots, perovskite nanoplatelets and nanodiamonds

Mahendran, Vellaichamy (author), Škarabot, Miha (author), Muševič, Igor (author)

Optical gain and resistance against photo-bleaching are key material parameters for practical applications in microlasers and microphotonics. Here, we present studies of optical amplification and photo-bleaching in a wide range of optical gain materials, including fluorescent dyes, quantum dots and rods, organic and inorganic room temperature polaritons, and nanodiamonds with emission range from 430 to 680 nm. We used amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) for each material to measure the optical gain. Robustness against photo-bleaching was determined by measuring the intensity of spontaneous emission of the material as a function of the number of excitation femtosecond pulses (10$^6$–10$^{10}$) at various excitation energy densities. We show that pyrromethene laser dyes are the best organic emitters in terms of low excitation energy and good optical gain, whereas solid-state polariton materials are better in terms of high optical gain and stability. We found that all organic and inorganic optical gain materials bleach completely after 10$^6$–10$^9$ illumination pulses with typical 0.1–0.6 GW/cm$^2$ peak power density, with an exception of nanodiamonds. We show that nanodiamonds are the only optical gain material that shows no photo-bleaching beyond the 10$^{10}$ excitation pulses of 300 fs pulse duration and with 0.16 GW/cm$^2$ peak power density.

• Language: English
• Keywords: optical gain, photostability, dyes, anthracene, nanodiamonds, quantum dots, quantum rods
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FMF - Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 935-956
• Numbering: Vol. 50, no. 6
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-152327
• UDC: 535
• ISSN on article: 1366-5855
• DOI: 10.1080/02678292.2023.2188614
• COBISS.SI-ID: 147822851
• Publication date in RUL: 20.11.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Liquid crystals
• Shortened title: Liq. cryst.
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1366-5855
• COBISS.SI-ID: 18299943

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: optična ojačitev, fotostabilnost, barvila, antracen, diamantni nanodelci, kvantne pike, kvantne palčke

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: H2020
• Project number: 884928
• Name: Light-operated logic circuits from photonic soft-matter
• Acronym: LOGOS