Photostability of lasers based on pyrromethene 567 in liquid and solid-state host media

Abstract

The photostability of the laser dye pyrromethene P567 in various liquid and solid samples has been measured by determining the longevity of laser operation when pumped by the second harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. A large improvement in photostability for pyrromethene was found in deoxygenated non-polar solvents, with a normalised photostability value of 1000 GJ/mol compared to deoxygenated polar solvents (100 GJ/mol). A high photostability has been observed in a heptane-1,4-dioxane azeotrope mixture and improvements observed in systems incorporating triplet quenching agents. Doped solid polymer samples showed an increased photostability up to 200 GJ/mol for the pyrromethene laser dye when samples were modified with triplet quenchers. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.