Fluorescence decay and recovery in organic dye-doped polymer optical fibers

Photostabilities of several dye-doped polymer optical fibers are investigated experimentally. In the spectral fluorescence of those fibers doped with dyes such as fluorescein and pyrromethene, a characteristic double-peak structure has been identified. The photobleaching induced by the irradiation of an Ar laser output is found to be partially or completely reversible. This depends on the type of dyes used and also on the intensity of irradiation. Also, a spectrally asymmetrical decay which corresponds to the differential photobleaching of the two peaks in the fluorescence spectra has been observed.