Solvent Effects on C60 Excited State Cross Sections

Abstract

AbstractA survey study of solvent effects on the linear and nonlinear absorption properties of C60 has been done. The nonlinear absorption measurements are done at 694 nm with a Q-switched Nd:YAG pumped dye laser. In conjunction with this study a three level rate equation system has been solved analytically and the model results used to extract effective excited state cross sections. A difference and a ratio are calculated from the effective excited state cross section and the ground state cross section. The analysis demonstrates that it is this difference and the initial transmission which determine the critical fluence for the onset of nonlinear absorption. The saturation behavior is determined by the ratio of the cross sections and the initial transmission. Based on these findings C60 is shown to have some of the highest reported nonlinear absorption properties at 694 nm. The effective excited state cross sections at 694 nm are reported for the solutions and correlations to the solvent types demonstrated.