Objective
At present there is an enormous world-wide interest in the study of both the fundamental properties and the possible applications of the newly discovered forms of carbon called fullerenes. Fullerenes are characterised by closed cage formations of carbon atoms akin to minature footballs and are often referred to as buckyballs.
Recent research findings indicate that fullerenes materials may have important phototonic device applications. In particular, the fullerenes exhibit a very large non-linear optical response coupled with a fast response time. In addition, since fullerenes do not contain C-H and O-H chemical groups, which would cause residual absorption in the near infra-red region of the optical spectrum, the materials could be suitable for a range of telecommunications applications.
Theoretical considerations indicate that the non-linear optical properties may be enhanced by addition of one or more metal atoms externally to the fullerene cage as well as within the cage itself. Such a modification may also serve to increase the optical second harmonic generation coefficient resulting in an increase in frequency doubling efficiency. Materials exhibiting efficient optical frequency doubling properties have potential valuable applications in the area of solid state lasers.
This research is concerned with the preparation and investigation of the non-linear optical properties of selected metal-fullerene derivatives and the experimental characterisation of metal-fullerene film surfaces.
Call for proposal
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CV4 7EZ Coventry
United Kingdom