Metallo-diphthalocyanine embedded polymer host for nanosecond optical limiting

In this work we present the nanosecond optical limiting of two rare earth metallo-diphthalocyanines, namely Sm(Pc)/sub 2/ and Eu(Pc)/sub 2/ in a co-polymer matrix of methyl methacrylate and methyl-2-cyanoacrylate. We have used 9 nanosecond laser pulses at 532 nm from a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser for the optical limiting measurements. It is found that the presence of metallo-phthalocyanines in the co-polymer matrix reduces its damage threshold.