Optical limiter having trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerence films
View Patent ↗An exemplary optical limiter device ( 100 ) has an optically transmissive substrate ( 102 ) and a layer ( 104 ) on a first surface ( 106 ) of the substrate, the layer having a trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene. The layer can be a thin film of the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene, a layer material with a cavity containing a solution with the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene, a sol-gel with a trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene, and a self assembled monolayer with a trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene. The layers of trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerenes can be vapor deposited, solution deposited and/or self assembled onto optical components. The third-order nonlinear properties of these films provide desired transmission characteristics.
1. An optical limiter device comprising: an optically transmissive substrate; and a layer on a first surface of the substrate, the layer including a trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene.
2. The optical limiter device of claim 1 , wherein the layer includes one or more of: a thin film including the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene, a layer material with a cavity containing a solution including the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene, a sol-gel containing a trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene, and a self assembled monolayer containing a trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene.
3. The optical limiter device of claim 2 , wherein the layer comprises a thin film consisting essentially of the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene.
4. The optical limiter device of claim 1 , wherein the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene has a general formula A 3−n X n N@C m , wherein n ranges from 0 to 3, A and X are a trivalent metal, m is between about 60 and about 200, and N is a heteroatom/ion.
5. The optical limiter device of claim 4 , wherein N is nitrogen.
6. The optical limiter device of claim 4 , wherein the trivalent metal is a rare earth metal or a group IIIB metal.
7. The optical limiter device of claim 6 , wherein A is selected from the group consisting of Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanum, Gadolinium, Holmium, Terbium, Erbium, Thulium, and Ytterbium.
8. The optical limiter device of claim 7 , wherein A is selected from the group consisting of Terbium, Erbium, Holmium, Scandium and Yttrium.
9. The optical limiter device of claim 6 , wherein X is selected from the group consisting of Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanum, Gadolinium, Holmium, Terbium, Erbium, Thulium, and Ytterbium.
10. The optical limiter device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a glass.
11. The optical limiter device of claim 10 , wherein the substrate is quartz or a chalcogenide glass.
12. The optical limiter device of claim 1 , wherein the layer has a thickness of one monolayer of the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene to 1 mm.
13. The optical limiter device of claim 12 , wherein the thickness is from about 1 nm to 1 micron.
14. The optical limiter device of claim 1 , wherein the layer is a patterned layer.
15. A method of forming an optical limiter device, the method comprising; forming a layer including a trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene on an optically transmissive substrate by a technique selected from the group consisting of a vapor deposition technique, a solution technique and a self-assembled monolayer technique.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the selected technique is a vapor deposition technique including physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, laser assisted deposition, molecular beam evaporation.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the selected technique is a solution technique including evaporation from solution, electrochemical deposition, electrophoretic deposition.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the selected technique is a solution technique including encapsulating a solution containing the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene in a cavity in the layer.
19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the selected technique is a self-assembled monolayer technique including forming a layer of a functionalized molecule on the substrate, the functionalized molecule modified for improved solubility in an aqueous or non-aqueous solvent.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the functionalized molecule preferentially binds to the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene and/or to a first surface of the substrate.
21. The method of claim 15 , wherein the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene has a general formula A 3−n X n N@C m , wherein n ranges from 0 to 3, A and X are a trivalent metal, m is between about 60 and about 200, and N is a heteroatom/ion.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein N is nitrogen.
23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the trivalent metal is a rare earth metal or a group IIIB metal.
24. The method of claim 23 , wherein A is selected from the group consisting of Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanum, Gadolinium, Holmium, Terbium, Erbium, Thulium, and Ytterbium.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein A is selected from the group consisting of Terbium, Erbium, Holmium, Scandium and Yttrium.
26. The method of claim 23 , wherein X is selected from the group consisting of Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanum, Gadolinium, Holmium, Terbium, Erbium, Thulium, and Ytterbium.
27. The method of claim 15 , wherein the substrate is a glass.
28. The method of claim 27 , wherein the substrate is quartz or a chalcogenide glass.
29. The method of claim 15 , wherein the layer is deposited to a thickness of one monolayer of the trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerene to 1 mm.
30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the thickness is from about 1 nm to 1 micron.
31. The method of claim 15 , comprising patterning the layer.
32. The method of claim 31 , wherein patterning includes masking or photolithography.