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OTT-CSIC-> Catalogue -> Services and Analyses -> Materials -> Plastics and Polymers ->
CSIC NM033- New polymeric solid-state dye lasers
Institute of Polymer Science and Technology of CSIC offers a license of technology which allows to obtain new organic and hybrid (organic-inorganic) polymers for the development and manufacturing of visible solid-state state lasers. These new materials can replace advantageously the present liquid dye lasers. We are looking for a company interested in the manufacturing, marketing and exploiting of this technology.
Specification sheet:
DESCRIPTION

From the mid sixties, dye lasers have been attractive sources of coherent tunable visible radiation because of their unique operational flexibility and their versatile nature which has resulted in their applicability to a wide range of different fields, from basic physics, chemistry and biology, to medicine and industry.Although dyes have been used in the solid, liquid, or gas phases, liquid solutions of dyes in suitable organic solvents have been the most frequently used laser media because this active medium can be obtained in high optical quality and a liquid solution can be cooled by simply using a flow system. Nevertheless, the use of liquid solutions in dye lasers entrails a number of inconveniencies, mainly related to the need of employing large volumes of organic solutions of dyes that are both toxic and expensive to use and dispose of. Continuous circulation of the solution requires pumps and the design of complex and bulky cells, which together with the large dye/solvent reservoirs increase the size and cost of these dye laser systems and have restricted their use outside the laboratory. A solid-state dye laser, where the dye molecules incorporate into solid host matrices, is an attractive alternative to liquid solutions, with obvious advantages, both technical and economic, such as compactness, ease of operation and maintenance, the absence of flammable and toxic solutions, and the elimination of problems caused by flow fluctuations and solvent evaporation. The technology here presented consists of a solid-state device, compact, manageable and easy to carry, of pulsed beams, for medical or environmental applications, based on organic dyes incorporated into either adequate polymeric matrices or organic/inorganic hybrid matrices

INNOVATIVE ASPECTS

In the previous section we have already described the advantages of the use of solid state devices for the generation of laser emission from organic dyes. In spite of these advantages, the practical use of solid-state dye lasers has been hindered by the fast degradation of the dye molecules incorporated into solid hosts, so that the energy of the laser emission decreased fast with the number of shots, and the laser emission extinguished completely after a few hundred shots. It was not until the 1990s that the development of new laser materials with increased resistance to the damage for laser radiation and the development of new dyes, more efficient and stable, resulted in significant advances towards the development of practical solid-state dye lasers. Over the last ten years, our research group has performed an exhaustive and systematic investigation on organic dyes and their host materials. As a result of this research we have been able of developing solid materials incorporating lasing dyes with high efficiencies and stabilities, with stable laser emission for millions of shots, making these solid-state dye laser competitive, for the first time, with their liquid counterparts, with the advantage of a compact and low cost design.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

(Inglés)The competitive advantages offered by the technology here considered follow immediately from the description presented in the previous sections. A solid-state dye laser is intrinsically much cheaper than the same laser in liquid state, because of the important simplification in design and the elimination of the need to use large volumes of toxic organic solvents, with the accompanying environmental and storage problems. Because in the usual liquid state dye lasers the solution must circulate and, at the same time, maintain a high purity degree, special pumps are required with inner coatings of inert materials. In addition, the toxicity of the solvents requires taking special care in dealing with them, to avoid accidental spillage and contact with the skin of people or their vapours being inhalated by the operators. Using an inert solid matrix, of polymeric or hybrid material, as active laser medium avoids all these problems at once, with the consequent increase in security and simultaneous decrease in both size and cost. Thus, it is a clean technology easy to operate.

KEYWORDS

3004003 Colours, dyes related to Chemical Technology and engineering2007012 Optical Materials6001006 Diagnostics, Diagnosis

PATENT

9300157-9501419 y 9901540, US 6,281,315,B1

CONTACT

JOSE MARIA BIELZA DE ORY
email: M.Bielza@orgc.csic.es
phone: +34 915616800 (ext. 3231)

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