Amplified spontaneous emission from DCJTB encapsulated in mesostructured composite silica SBA-15

Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) characteristics of a red dye 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-t-butyl-6-(1,1,7,7- etramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)-4H-pyran (DCJTB) encapsulated in a highly ordered mesoporous SBA-15 were studied. The mesoporous composite silica film loaded with organic dye has been successfully synthesized by a solgel reaction process and a simple postgrafting method at room temperature. The spectrum narrowing phenomena has been observed when the composite film is pumped at λp=532  nm by a Nd:YAG ed laser. There is a substantial reduction in the full width at half-maximum of the emitting light, which is one of the signatures of the presence of ASE. The ASE threshold and net gain, respectively, reached 0.03  mJ pulse^-1 and 34.7  cm^-1 for the DCJTB encapsulated in mesoporous SBA-15 film. The optimized ASE properties owe much to the effects of the better spatial confinement of the molecules in the ordered mesoporous structure of the host SBA-15.