Solid polymeric matrices containing rhodamines and their use in lasers

A solid polymeric matrix containing rhodamine, wherein said matrix comprises polymerized monomers of a rhodamine chromophore having a phenyl at position 9 and an esterified carboxyl at position 2′ of the phenyl, the matrix, when irradiated, emitting laser radiation, the monomers having the general formula

• wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 independently are hydrogen or saturated alkyl groups of 1 to 6 carbons, and wherein R is a —(CH2)n(p)C6H4—CO2(CH2)nOCOCH═CH2 group capable of polymerization or copolymerization;
• said R group optionally joined to said carboxyl at position 2′ of the phenyl by a spacer selected from the group consisting of —(OCH2)n−, (OCH2CH2)n−;
• —O—(CH2)n−, and combinations thereof;
• wherein n independently represents a number between 1 and 12;
• said matrix, when being a polymer of said rhodamine chromophore, hydroxyethyl methacrylate and methylmethacrylate, comprising a proportion of hydroxyethyl methacrylate to methylmethacrylate of at least 1:
• 1;
• and X is an anion.

A solid polymeric matrix containing rhodamine, wherein said matrix comprises polymerized monomers of a rhodamine chromophore having a phenyl at position 9 and an esterified carboxyl at position 2′ of the phenyl, the matrix, when irradiated, emitting laser radiation, the monomers having the general formula

• wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 are independently hydrogen or saturated alkyl groups of 1 to 6 carbons, and wherein R is a —(CH2)n—(p)C6H4—CO2(CH2)nOCOC(CH3)═CH2 group capable of polymerization or copolymerization;
• said R group optionally joined to said carboxyl at position 2′ of the phenyl by a spacer selected from the group consisting of —(OCH2)n−, (OCH2CH2)n−;
• —O—(CH2)−, and combinations thereof;
• wherein n independently represents a number between 1 and 12;
• said matrix, when being a polymer of said rhodamine chromophore, hydroxyethyl methacrylate and methylmethacrylate, comprising a proportion of hydroxyethyl methacrylate to methylmethacrylate of at least 1:
• 1;
• and X is an anion.

A method of generating laser radiation using a solid polymeric matrix as an active medium, the matrix comprising polymerized monomers of a rhodamine chromophore, said monomers having the general formula,

• wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 independently are hydrogen or saturated alkyl groups of 1 to 6 carbons, and wherein R is an unsaturated group capable of polymerization or copolymerization, selected from at least one of the group consisting of
• —(CH2)n(p)C6H4—CO2(CH2)nOCOCH═CH2 and
• —(CH2)n—(p)C6H4—CO2(CH2)nOCOC(CH3)═CH2
• wherein n independently represents a number between 1 and 12;
• said matrix, when being a polymer of said rhodamine chromophore, hydroxyethyl methacrylate and methylmethacrylate, comprising a proportion of hydroxyethyl methacrylate to methylmethacrylate of at least 1:1;
• X is an anion;
• the matrix being a solid in the shape of a cylinder portion having an axial flat lateral surface obtained by cutting a cylinder obtained in a cylindrical mold by the axis thereof;
• placing the solid in a standard laser cavity, irradiating the matrix for emitting laser radiation, and shifting the solid, by means of a shifting device, from a first edge of the flat surface, in pitches of 0.1 to 0.4 mm, to a second edge of the flat surface, at a rate such that each region of the flat surface is irradiated with a pumping radiation only once, whereby when the second edge of the flat surface has been reached, shifting is reversed until said first edge is reached, whereby shifting and reversed shifting are repeated successively, thereby generating laser radiation in a spectral zone selected from ultraviolet, visible or infrared adjacent spectral zones.

A method of generating laser radiation using a solid polymeric matrix as an active medium, the matrix comprising polymerized monomers of a rhodamine chromophore, the monomers having the general formula,

• wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 independently are hydrogen or saturated alkyl groups of 1 to 6 carbons, and wherein R is an unsaturated group capable of polymerization or copolymerization, selected from at least one of the group consisting of
• —(CH2)n(p)C6H4—CO2(CH2)nOCOCH═CH2 and
• —(CH2)n—(p)C6H4—CO2(CH2)nOCOC(CH3)═CH2
• wherein n represents a number between 1 and 12;
• said matrix, when being a polymer of said rhodamine chromophore, hydroxyethyl methacrylate and methylmethacrylate, comprising a proportion of hydroxyethyl methacrylate to methylmethacrylate of at least 1:1;
• X is an anion;
• the matrix being a solid is in the shape of a cylinder, the method comprising
• placing the solid in a standard laser cavity, irradiating the matrix for emitting laser radiation, and continuously rotating the solid in pitches of 0.1 to 0.4 mm, such that each region of the matrix is irradiated with a pumping radiation only once in one total rotation of the solid, thereby generating laser radiation in a spectral zone selected from ultraviolet, visible or infrared adjacent spectral zones.