Experimental retrieval of the kinetic parameters of a dye in a solid film

Effects of a solid matrix on the dye kinetic parameters for Rh800 were experimentally studied. Saturation intensity dependencies were measured with a seeding pulse amplification method using a picosecond and a femtosecond white light supercontinuum source. The kinetic parameters were obtained by fitting experimental dependencies with Yee's finite-difference time-domain model coupled to the rate equations of the 4-level Rh800-system. The comparison of these parameters (Rh800-solid host) with liquid host parameters revealed a slight change of the radiative lifetime and a strong change of the non-radiative decay rate. This experimentally determined model enables predictive simulations of time-domain responses of active metamaterials. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America