Nonlinear optical materials for sensor protection against pulsed laser radiation in the visible spectral region

The growing use of lasers increases the risk of accidental or intentional damage to human eyes and optical sensor systems. Current protection equipment is based on optical filters with fixed spectral transmission bands or shutter systems, but optical filters only work in predefined wavebands and shutter-systems are too slow to protect against pulsed laser radiation. Passive self-activated devices, in contrast, offer the potential for short response times with a simple design. Nonlinear optical materials with the capability to strongly attenuate intense laser beams are particularly interesting. In this work, we present our research on the protection capability of C60 and self-produced silver nanoparticles as functional materials in a real application case. A camera with CMOS sensor can be completely protected from being damaged up to a maximum measured input energy of 2 mJ. Therefore, it has been demonstrated that optical limiting materials can be suitable in laser protection applications.