OPTICAL LIMITING WITH C-60 AND OTHER FULLERENES

In view of a possible application in optical limiting devices for prot ection against laser radiation, at the Defence Research Establishment Valcartier we have studied the nonlinear transmission properties of fu llerenes. The study involved C-60, C-70, C-76, C-84, several derivativ es of C-60, and a variety of solvents. The nonlinear measurements were made with 7-ns pulses at 532 nm from a Nd:YAG laser. For optical limi ting applications, solutions of C-60 yielded better results than the o ther fullerenes, with a solution of C-60 in chlorobenzene being margin ally the best. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.