Multiphasic Nanostructured Composites for Photonics: Fullerene-Doped Monolith Glass

We present the preparation of novel multifunctional nanostructured composite materials using the sol-gel process. We have demonstrated the doping of two optical limiting organic molecules (C₆₀ and bisbenzothiazole 3,4-didecyloxythiophene (BBTDOT)) in a single bulk while maintained the optical limiting effect at each of their characteristic wavelengths. A multiphasic composite glass doped with both C₆₀ and BBTDOT exhibited effective optical power limiting at 532 and 800 nm due to independent limiting effects at each wavelength generated by each of the two dopants. These composite glasses have excellent optical quality (loss ≈ 1 dB/m) and a large bulk size. By using our methodology, it is possible to dope two (or more) different optically responsive materials, each of which will reside in different phases of the matrix to make multifunctional nanostructured bulk materials for photonic applications.