A novel near IR two-photon absorbing chromophore: Optical limiting and stabilization performances at an optical communication wavelength

Materials with large two-photon absorption (TPA) capability are highly useful not only for optical power limiting, but also for laser pulses' stabilization in an optical communication system. A novel dipyrromethene boron difluoride (BODIPY) chromophore was synthesized and its TPA characteristic was investigated by the direct nonlinear transmission method in femto-second regime. This chromophore was found to have a broad TPA spectral distribution in the near-IR range, and a fairly large TPA cross-section of 101 GM at around 1310 nm. Using the BODIPY chromophore, both good optical limiting and optical stabilization performances were achieved at the wavelength of 1310 nm.