Optical limiting and reverse-saturable absorption in glycerol

Abstract

The input–output power response of the glycerol solution with different glycerin concentrations is studied. It is found that there is an optical power limiting activity for glycerol. The transmission of the optical power is found to decrease with increasing the concentration. The decrease in optical power follows the well-known Beer–Lambert law at lower powers. However, at higher powers we observe an optical limiting property with saturated output powers. The saturated output power of the solution for various concentrations is estimated and is found to decrease with an increase in the concentration of the solution. The limiting mechanism is found to be reverse-saturable absorption and is discussed on the basis of the five level energy diagram of the molecular system.