Gold nanoparticles as optical limiting materials against cw lasers

Maria Chiara Frare; Raffaella Signorini; Verena Weber; Renato Bozio

doi:10.1117/12.2029279

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16 October 2013 Gold nanoparticles as optical limiting materials against cw lasers

Maria Chiara Frare, Raffaella Signorini, Verena Weber, Renato Bozio

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Proceedings Volume 8901, Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism, Crime Fighting and Defence IX; and Optical Materials and Biomaterials in Security and Defence Systems Technology X; 890113 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2029279
Event: SPIE Security + Defence, 2013, Dresden, Germany

Abstract

The goal of this work is to study the optical limiting properties of gold nanoparticles colloidal suspensions in organic solvent and to make a comparison with nanoparticles embedded in a polymeric matrix. The idea is to realize a solid state protection device based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) against cw lasers. This is desirable because polymers are usually cheap, flexible, and mechanically robust and temporally stable. In particular we use polycarbonate, a common polymer used to produce high quality optical lenses with superior mechanical properties. Thermally induced nonlinear optical properties of AuNPs, characterized by a surface plasmon resonance with a peak at about 520 nm where the human eye is most sensitive, have been reported for solution samples. The z-scan analysis performed on AuNPs in organic solvent confirms the presence of a nonlinear absorption coefficient comparable with literature for water colloids. We have investigated the optical limiting behavior of AuNPs doped thin film under cw illumination at 488 nm and their temporal response. A critical parameter in assessing the effectiveness of the optical limiting action is the time response of the material at varying input powers. It gives us information on the transmitted irradiance in a 300 milliseconds time interval, corresponding to the blinking time of the human eye, therefore on the total fluence reaching the retina. Finally we also report a characterization of the optical limiting action of film at 488, 514 and 647 nm.

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Maria Chiara Frare, Raffaella Signorini, Verena Weber, and Renato Bozio "Gold nanoparticles as optical limiting materials against cw lasers", Proc. SPIE 8901, Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism, Crime Fighting and Defence IX; and Optical Materials and Biomaterials in Security and Defence Systems Technology X, 890113 (16 October 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2029279

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