Optical Limiting Properties of 3,5-Dithienylenevinylene BODIPY Dyes at 532nm

The optical limiting properties of a series of near infrared absorbing 3,5dithienylenevinylene BODIPY (boron-dipyrromethene) dyes (1-3) that contain donor and acceptor moieties in their pi-conjugation systems were studied by using the z-scan technique at 532 nm in the nanosecond pulse range. A strong reverse saturable absorption response was observed when the compounds are embedded into poly(bisphenol carbonate A) polymer thin films, which demonstrates that BODIPY dyes with this type of structure are suitable for use in optical limiting applications.