Study of laser action of Coumarine-153 incorporated in sol-gel made silica/poly(propylene oxide) nanocomposite gels

Coumarin-153 (C-153) has been incorporated by the sol-gel method into trans parent nanocomposite matrices made by using a precursor composed of a poly( propylene oxide) (PPO) chain covalently linked by area bridges with two end triethoxysilane groups. The solid gets can be used without any further tre atment as active components in a dye laser, providing a rather wide range o f laser emission. This range is further widened by exploiting the solvatoch romic effect of coumarin and the different polarity of the solubilization s ites provided by nanocomposites of various PPO chain sizes. (C) 2001 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.