Fabrication of clay mineral–dye composites as nonlinear optical materials

Abstract

Dye–clay mineral composites are promising candidates as nonlinear optical (NLO) devices. However, difficulties in fabricating a low light-scattering sample have hindered practical applications. In this study, we successfully fabricated a low light-scattering film consisting of a clay mineral and a dye. The quality of the film, fabricated from synthetic saponite and a dye under optimized conditions, was sufficient for a NLO measurement.

Keywords:

• hybrid material
• nonlinear optics
• film
• two-photon absorption

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Professor Shinsuke Takagi, Tokyo Metropolitan University, for his valuable suggestions and supports throughout this study. This work was supported in part by a fund from the Venture Business Laboratory, Yamaguchi University and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 20360035) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.