Observation of Two-Photon Absorption and Nonlinear Refraction in AlN

Two-photon absorption （TPA） and nonlinear refraction in AlN single crystals are revealed with the single beam Z-scan technique. A large TPA coefficient of 134-3 cm/CW at 355 nm and third-order nonlinear refractive indices of-1.91±0.38×10-13 cm2/W at 355nm, 1.79±0.36 × 10-13 cm2/W at 532nm and 1.61±0.32 ×10-12 cm2/W at 1064nm are derived. It is inferred that the TPA-generated free carriers are responsible for the large negative nonlinear refractive index at 355 nm, while the oxygen impurity induced bandgap narrowing may account for the large third-order nonlinear refractive indices at 532nm and 1064nm. The large nonlinear optical responses of AIN promise wide applications in the deep ultraviolet nonlinear optical devices.

Simple measurement of nonlinear refraction by using a single pulse and beam

A very simple technique, by which both the magnitude and the sign of nonlinear refraction can be determined through using only one single pulse and beam with a phase object, is presented. Using this technique, only the transmittance of an aperture in the far field is investigated. We study the nonlinear refraction of the carbon disulfide by using the presented technique with 21~ps pulses at a wavelength of 532~nm as a test.

Ultrafast nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction in few-layer oxidized black phosphorus

We experimentally investigated the nonlinear optical response in few-layer oxidized black phosphorus(OBP) by the femtosecond Z-scan measurement technique, and found that OBP not only possesses strong ultrafast saturable absorption but also a nonlinear self-defocusing effect that is absent in black phosphorus(BP). The saturable absorption property originates mainly from the direct band structure, which is still maintained in OBP. The emergence of self-defocusing might originate from the combined consequences of the oxygen-induced defects in BP. Our experimental findings might constitute the first experimental evidence on how to dynamically tune its nonlinear property, offering an inroad in tailoring its optical properties through chemical modification(oxidation, introducing defects, etc.). The versatile ultrafast nonlinear optical properties(saturable absorption and self-defocusing) imply a significant potential of the layered OBP in the development of unprecedented optoelectronic devices, such as mode lockers, optical switches, laser beam shapers, and wavelength converters.

Synthesis and Largely Enhanced Nonlinear Refraction of Au@Cu2O Core-Shell Nanorods

Au@Cu2O core-shell nanorods with tunable thickness of Cu2O shell were synthesized and their linear and nonlinear optical responses were investigated. Two transverse plasmon resonance peaks were observed when the Au nanorods were coated with Cu2O shells, which were adjusted by the Cu2O shell thickness. The nonlinear absorption of the Au@Cu2O nanorods is enhanced by 5 times at the longitudinal plasmon resonance wavelength compared with that of bare Au nanorods. More intriguingly, largely enhanced nonlinear refraction and suppressed nonlinear absorption at the transverse plasmon resonance wavelength were observed in the Au@Cu2O nanorods. Our findings indicate the existence of strong local field enhancement at the interface between the Au core and the Cu2O shell, which would provide a promising strategy in designing plasmonic nonlinear nanodevices with good nonlinear figures of merit.

Size-dependent nonlinear absorption and refraction of Ag nanoparticles excited by femtosecond lasers

Silver （Ag） nanoparticles with different average sizes are prepared, and the nonlinear absorption and refraction of these nanoparticles are investigated with femtosecond laser pulses at 800 nm. The smallest Ag nanoparticles show insignificant nonlinear absorption, whereas the larger ones show saturable absorption. By considering the previously reported positive nonlinear absorption of 9 nm Ag nanopartieles, the nonlinear absorptions of Ag nanopartieles are found to be size-dependeut. All these nonlinear absorptions can be compatibly explained from the viewpoints of electronic transitions, energy bands and electronic structures in the conduction band of Ag nanoparticles. The nonlinear refraction is attributed to the effect of hot electrons arising from the intraband transition in the s p conduction band of Ag nanoparticles.

Effect of Fe concentration on the nonlinear refraction and reverse saturable absorption in ferroelectric X-cut LiNbO_3 crystal

In this Letter, the effects of the iron （Fe） dopant concentration on the nonlinear optical properties of iron-doped ferroelectric X-cut LiNbO3 crystals plates are studied by using the Z-scan technique with a cw laser at the wave- length of 532 nm. The amount of iron in the compound is varied from 0 to 0.15 mol%. Measurements of nonlinear refractive index n2 and the nonlinear absorption coefficient β are determined. The sign of the nonlinear refractive index is found to be negative and the magnitude is on the order of 10-s cm2/W. This nonlinear effect increases as the concentration increases from 0 to 0.15 mol%. A good linear relationship is obtained between nonlinear refractive index, nonlinear absorption coefficient, and concentration.

Orientation-enhanced nonlinear optical properties and phase-conjugate reflective system of a novel Azobenzene doped polymer film

This paper reports that the nonlinear refractive index of a novel organic optical storage film doped azodiphenylamine polymer is measured by using the Z-scan technique. The nonlinear refractive index up to 3.7× 10^-6 cm^2/W induced by thermo-optical effect is obtained. It indicates that the sample has excellent optical non- linear properties. The physical mechanism of the great nonlinear optical effect is analysed and the optical conjugate characteristic is also discussed with degenerate four-wave-mixing. The phase conjugate wave diffracted from the formative refractive index grating in the sample is acquired and its equivalent reflectivity reaches about 22%. On this basis, the reflective wave phase-conjugated mirror system was designed, and the image aberration experienced in propagation in the storage experiment is corrected by using the system.

Physical origin of observed nonlinearities in Poly(1-naphthyl methacrylate):Using a single transistor–transistor logic modulated laser beam

A thermal lens technique is adopted using a single modulated continuous wave （cw） 532-nm laser beam to evaluate the nonlinear refractive index n2, and the thermo-optic coefficient dn/dT, in polymer Poly （1-naphthyl methacrylate） （P-1-NM） dissolved in chloroform, tetrahydrofuran （THF）, and dimethyl sulfoxide （DMSO） solvents. The results are compared with Z-scan and diffraction ring techniques. The comparison reveals the effectiveness and the simplicity of the TTL modulation technique. The physical origin is discussed for the obtained results.

Structure and Nonlinear Refractive Index of Bismuth Borate Glass

The method of conventional glass melting is used to study the glass formation region of Bi2O3-B2O3-TiO2-La2O3 system. The instrument of Differential Scanning Calorimeter （DSC） is used to research the glass stability. Raman spectra and IR spectra are used to speculate on the structure of glasses. The refractive index of glass is measured by prism coupler. With increase of Bi2O3, the glass stability, the amount of [BiO3] group and boron-oxygen loops decrease, while the content of B-O- bond, refractive index and nonlinear refractive index increase.

Nonlinear optical characterization of phosphate glasses based on ZnO using the Z-scan technique

The nonlinear optical properties of a phosphate vitreous system [（ZnO）x-（MgO）30-x-（P2O5）70], where x=8, 10, 15, 18, and 20 mol% synthesized through the melt-quenching technique have been investigated by using the Z-scan technique. In the experiment, a continuous-wave laser with a wavelength of 405 nm was utilized to determine the sign and value of the nonlinear refractive （NLR） index and the absorption coefficient with closed and opened apertures of the Z-scan setup. The NLR index was found to increase with the ZnO concentration in the glass samples by an order of 10-10 cm2·W-1. The real and imaginary parts of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility were calculated by referring to the NLR index （n2） and absorption coefficient （β） of the samples. The value of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility was presented by nonlinear refractive or absorptive behavior of phosphate glasses for proper utilization in nonlinear optical devices. Based on the measurement, the positive sign of the NLR index shows a self-focusing phenomenon. The figures of merit for each sample were calculated to judge the potential of phosphate glasses for application in optical switching.

Nonlinear Refractive Index and Absorption Coefficient of Single-Shell Semiconductor Carbon Nanotube

The nonlinear refractive index and absorption coefficient of single\|shell semiconductor carbon nanotubes(CN s ) are calculated based on the two\|band approximation and Genkin\|Mednis approach. The results of nonlinear refractive index and absorption coefficient reach the order of 10 -8 and 10 -4 cm 2\5W -1 separately, which indicates that CN s have wonderful nonlinear optical properties. Taking into account the temperature effect and overlapping of σ and π orbits, the effect of relaxation term and chiral angle is discussed. The results show that the smaller the relaxation term, the larger the nonlinear absorption coefficient and refractive index. At the same time, CN s with different chiral angles have different results due to their different energy gap.

Effect of Si δ-Doping on the Linear and Nonlinear Optical Absorptions and Refractive Index Changes in InAlN/GaN Single Quantum Wells

In the framework of effective mass approximation, we theoretically investigate the electronic structure of the Si δ-doped InAIN/GaN single quantum well by solving numerically the coupled equations Schrodinger-Poisson self-consistently. The linear, nonlinear optical absorption coefficients and relative refractive index changes are calculated as functions of the doping concentration and its thickness. The obtained results show that the position and the amplitude of the linear and total optical absorption coefficients and the refractive index changes can be modified by varying the doping concentration and its thickness. In addition, it is found that the maximum of the optical absorption can be red-shifted or blue-shifted by varying the doping concentration. The obtained results are important for the design of various electronic components such as high-power FETs and infrared photonic devices.

Z-SCAN TECHNIQUE FOR MEASUREMENT OF TOTAL CHOLESTEROL AND TRIGLYCERIDES IN BLOOD

The measurement of cholesterol and triglycerides in blood by Z-scan technique is proposed.The nonlinear refractive index of cholesterol and triglycerides was found to vary linearly with concentration.Hence by calculating the nonlinear refractive index it is possible to measure their concentration in the sample.These measured values are found in equivalence with conventional colorimetric method.

Affirming nonlinear optical coefficient constancy from z-scan measurement

Goodness of fit is demonstrated for theoretical calculation of z-scan data based on beams propagating in the nonlinear medium and the Fresnel–Kirchhoff diffraction integral in experiments with high nonlinear refraction and absorption. The constancy of nonlinear optical parameters is achieved regardless of sample thickness and laser intensity, which clarifies the physical significance of optical parameters. We have obtained γ = 2.0 × 10-19 m2/W and β = 5.0 × 10-13 m/W for carbon disulfide excited by a pulsed laser at 800 nm with pulse duration of 35 fs,which are independent of sample thickness and laser intensity. Affirming constancy of the extracted parameters to the incident light intensity may become a practice to verify the goodness of the z-scan experiment.

Tunable nonlinear refractive index of two-dimensional MoS2, WS2, and MoSe2 nanosheet dispersions [Invited]

Liquid-phase-exfoliation technology was utilized to prepare layered MoS2, WS2, and MoSe2 nanosheets in cyclohexylpyrrolidone. The nonlinear optical response of these nanosheets in dispersions was investigated by observing spatial self-phase modulation（SSPM） using a 488 nm continuous wave laser beam. The diffraction ring patterns of SSPM were found to be distorted along the vertical direction right after the laser traversing the nanosheet dispersions. The nonlinear refractive index of the three transition metal dichalcogenides dispersions n2 was measured to be 10-7cm2W-1, and the third-order nonlinear susceptibility χ（3）10-9 esu. The relative change of effective nonlinear refractive index Δn2e∕n（2e） of the MoS2, WS2, and MoSe2 dispersions can be modulated 0.012–0.240, 0.029–0.154, and 0.091–0.304, respectively, by changing the incident intensities. Our experimental results imply novel potential application of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides in nonlinear phase modulation devices.

Nonlinear Refractive Index Measurement Utilizing Bistable Behavior of Double Coupling Optical Fiber Ring Resonator

A novel approach for measuring the nonlinear refractive index of an optical fiber utlizing the bistable behavior of the double coupling optical fiber ring resonator was proposed and investigated. The switch-off or switch-on power decreases with an increase in the nonlinear refractive index n2 （m2/W）, and the dependence of swith-off or switch-on power on the nonlinear refractive index was analyzed numerically. Simulation results showed that the switch-off power and switch-on power （in dBW） decreased linearly with loglo （n2） in a 100-m-length fiber ring resonator, when n2 changed from 3.2 ×10^-20 m2/W to 2.5 × 10^-17 m2/W or nearly n2 = 3.2 × 10^-20 m2/W. These mean that high accuracy as well as large-scale nonlinear refractive index measurement can be achieved by the proposed approach.

Optical Properties of Silver Nanoplates Synthesized by Photoinduced Method

Silver nanoplates were synthesized in aqueous solution by photoinduced chemical reduction method with tungsten lamp as light source.The growth process was analyzed and characterized.The linear absorption spectra showed that,along with the growth process,the surface plasmon resonance of silver seed nanoparticles at 395 nm decreased gradually,while a new plasmon band at 740 nm corresponding to silver nanoplates appeared and increased gradually.Z-scan technique was used to explore the nonlinear optical properties of silver nanoplates.The results displayed that with the reaction time increases from 0 h to 24 h,the value of nonlinear absorption（NLA） coefficient and the value of nonlinear refraction（NLR） index of the products increased from 0 to 3.167 cm/GW and from 0.64×10^ 4 to 6.83×10 ^4 cm 2 /GW,respectively.