Amplified spontaneous emission in polymer films doped with a perylenediimide derivative

The presence of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) by optical pump in polystyrene films doped with N,N'-di(10-nonadecyl)perylene-3,4:9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PDI-N) in a range of PDI-N concentrations between 0.25 and 5 wt. % is reported. Gain coefficients up to 10 cm(-1), at a pump intensity of 74 kW/cm(2), were obtained. The lowest diresholds (similar to 15 kW/cm(2)) and largest photostabilities measured at 50% (similar to 50 min, i.e., 30,000 pump pulses) were obtained for concentrations up to 1 wt. %. The observation of an increase in the ASE threshold and a decrease in the photostability for larger concentrations is attributed to the presence of aggregated species. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.