Reverse saturable absorption of fullerodendrimers in porous SiO2 sol–gel matrices

Abstract The non-linear absorption properties and the dynamics of porous sol–gel SiO2 glasses, doped with fullerodendrimers, i.e., fullerene derivatives functionalized with dendritic branches have been investigated using a double-pump–probe technique. A frequency doubled mode locked Nd:YAG laser (25 ps (FHWM), 532 nm) was applied as irradiation source. A reverse saturable absorption (induced absorption) in the samples containing the fullerodendrimers has been observed. A similar induced absorption was also obtained in the pure C60 samples. In addition, the dendritic branches, which prevent aggregation of the molecules, lead also to an increase of the triplet quantum yield due to a faster singlet–triplet relaxation.