  We present a fully ab initio, non-perturbative description of the optical
limiting properties of a metal-free phthalocyanine, by simulating the effects
of a broadband electric field of increasing intensity. The results confirm
reverse saturable absorption as leading mechanism for optical limiting
phenomena in this system and reveal that a number of dipole-forbidden
excitations are populated by excited-state absorption, at more intense external
fields. The excellent agreement with the experimental data supports our
approach as a powerful tool to predict optical limiting, in view of
applications.

Materials Science;Soft Condensed Matter