Axially substituted phthalocyanine/naphthalocyanine doped in glass matrix: an approach to the practical use for optical limiting material.

A novel glass matrix doped with phthalocyanine or naphthalocyanine is prepared by a modified sol-gel technique. The photophysical and optical limiting properties of the phthalocyanine compounds both in glass matrix and in THF solution were investigated. The obtained glass matrix is homogeneous and transparent, as well as mechanically and thermodynamically stable enough to withstand very high laser fluence; the optical limiting performances of these compound samples are better than that of benchmark materials like C60 in toluene, carbon black in water, and graphene oxide in water or ethanol under nanosecond pulsed laser at 532 nm. Two prototypes of optical limiters doped in the glass matrix have very good optical limiting performances, which may provide potential practical use for optical limiting materials in a near future.