Optical Limiting Materials

Optical limiting materials. Methanofullerenes, fulleroids and/or other fullerenes chemically altered for enhanced solubility, in liquid solution, and in solid blends with transparent glass (SiO2) gels or polymers, or semiconducting conjugated) polymers, are shown to be useful as optical limiters (optical surge protectors). The nonlinear absorption is tunable such that the energy transmitted through such blends saturates at high input energy per pulse over a wide range of wavelengths from 400-1100 nm by selecting the host material for its absorption wavelength and ability to transfer the absorbed energy into the optical limiting composition dissolved therein. This phenomenon should be generalizable to other compositions than substituted fullerenes