Ultrafast Photochromic Sol-Gel Glasses Fiber Optic Sensors

摘要

Organically doped sol-gel glasses have been investigated as fast responsephotochromic materials and as novel cladding materials for intrinsic fiber-optic chemical sensors. Investigations discussed include: (1) Time-resolved spectroscopic measurements of fast optical energy transfer and trapping in organically doped glasses as a probe of the spatial distribution of chromophores within porous sol-gel matrices; (2) Picosecond photon echo measurements of homogeneous dephasing have been utilized as a probe of chromophore-host interactions; (3) Neutron diffraction measurements (small angle and quasi elastic) have been utilized to probe the local pore structure of sol-gel matrices; (4) Optical limiting based on fast photophysical processes in organic chromophores doped in sol-gel hosts; and (5) Time-resolved detection of intrinsic sol-gel clad fiber-optic chemical sensors. Optical energy transfer in organically doped sol-gel glasses have been investigated by time-resolved fluorescence depolarization measurements and analyzed in terms of the spatial distribution of chromophores in porous xerogel glasses. Picosecond photon echo measurements of the temperature dependent homogeneous dephasing rate of organically doped inorganic sol-gel glasses have probed irreversible low frequency dynamics of the sol-gel environment. Intrinsic sol-gel clad fiber-optic chemical sensors have been demonstrated utilizing time-resolved optical detection of multiplexed sensors along fiber-optic waveguides.