Two-photon pumped lasing dyes and their sol-gel glass/polymer composites

A newly synthesized laser dye, trans-4-[P-(N-ethyl-N-hydroxyethylamino)styryl]- N-methylpyridinium tetraphenylborate (dye I), has high thermal- and photo-stability as well as strong two-photon-induced upconversion emission. Utilizing dye I doped bulk polymer rods, two-photo pumped frequency unconverted cavity lacing has been accomplished using a Q- switched Nd:YAG laser as the pump source. The upconversion lacing efficiency was 3.5%, and the cavity lacing lifetime, in terms of pulse numbers, was more than 4 by 104 pulses at 2 Hz repetition rate. By impregnating these dyes into a silica-gel:polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and Vycor-PMMA composite glasses, two-photon cavity lacing properties have also been studied.