Spectroscopy and applications of molecules in glasses

A variety of organic colorant species, showing strong absorption bands in the visible and high-yield broad-band luminescence can be incorporated at ambient temperature in the homogeneous precursor solution of sol-gel glasses which then vitrifies by moderate heating. The spectroscopic properties of such doped sol-gel glasses are reviewed, and their applications in tunable dye lasers, materials for non-linear optics, luminescent solar concentrators, and other devices are outlined.