New fullerene-based mixed materials: Synthesis and characterization

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The authors present results of broadband femtosecond transient absorption and broadband nanosecond optical limiting studies of C{sub 60} and derivatized C{sub 60}. They have investigated both solutions and solid-state mixed materials (sol-gel glass hosts doped with fullerene guests). They show that derivatized fullerenes provide enhanced solubility and processability, with a ground-state absorption extended into the infrared compared with C{sub 60}. They have extensively studied both the dynamic optical response and the excited-state absorption cross sections of solutions and solids for multiple wavelengths in the visible to near infrared. Wavelength-dependent studies show that the optical limiting response improves monotonically at longer wavelengths, demonstrating broadband limiting in all 6,6 mono-adducts and neat C{sub 60}. The authors report new approaches to processing sol-gel glass/fullerene composites to improve the optical limiting performance of solid-state materials to approach the response of solution limiters