Polymer-filled nanoporous silica aerogels as hosts for highly stable solid-state dye lasers

New hybrid solid-state dye laser materials based on highly porous silica aerogels have been synthesized. The open porous network of the aerogel was saturated with laser dyes dissolved in appropriate organic monomers, and polymerization took place inside the silica structure. The resulting polymer-filled nanoporous aerogel (PFNPA) was cast in a cylindrical shape, forming monoliths that were used as gain media in solid-state dye lasers. When the PFNPA incorporated pyrromethene dyes, highly photostable laser emission with good lasing efficiency was obtained. Under the demanding conditions of tightly focused transversal pumping with 532 nm, 5 mJ pulses at 10 Hz repetition rate, the commercial dye Pyrromethene 567 exhibited laser action with only a 10% drop in the laser output after 10(6) pump pulses in the same position of the sample.