Testing the diffusion hypothesis as a mechanism of self-healing in Disperse Orange 11 doped in poly(methyl methacrylate)

摘要

In this work, we show that reversible photodegradation of Disperse Orange 11 doped in poly(methyl methacrylate) is not due to dye diffusion-a common phenomenon observed in many dye-doped polymers. The change in linear absorbance due to photodegradation of the material shows an isobestic point, which is consistent with the formation of a quasi-stable damaged species. Spatially resolved amplified spontaneous emission and fluorescence, both related to the population density, are measured by scanning the pump beam over a burn mark. A numerical model of the time evolution of the population density due to diffusion is inconsistent with the experimental data, suggesting that diffusion is not responsible.