Optical properties of polymer films with embedded single‐wall carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Abstract In this work the thin polymer films (based on polyvinyl alcohol or carboxymetylcellulose ) containing single‐wall carbon nanotubes synthesized by different methods have been fabricated by a novel technology and studied in detail by UV–VIS–NIR optical absorption and Raman scattering techniques. The films are prospective as an optical material with a high non‐linearity. This property allows using them as ultra‐fast saturable absorbers in different laser schemes, especially, in fiber lasers. The optical spectroscopy has been used for optimization of several film parameters: an optical density, a thickness, a level of scattered light and proximity of the film absorption bands to the operation wavelengths of different solid state lasers. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)