Direct detection of the transient superresolution effect of nonlinear saturation absorption thin films

Using a strong nonlinear saturation absorption effect is one technique for breaking through the diffraction limit. In this technique, formation of a dynamic and reversible optical pinhole channel and transient superresolution is critical. In this work, a pump–probe transient detection and observation–experimental setup is constructed to explore the formation process directly. A Ge2Sb2Te5 thin film with strong nonlinear saturation absorption is investigated. The dynamic evolution of the optical pinhole channel is detected and imaged, and the transient superresolution spot is directly captured experimentally. Results verify that the superresolution effect originates from the generation of an optical pinhole channel and that the formation of the optical pinhole channel is dynamic and reversible. A good method is provided for direct detection and observation of the transient process of the superresolution effect of nonlinear thin films.

Phase-modulated quantum-sized TMDs for extreme saturable absorption

Two-dimensional semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs)have attracted much interest in the past decade.Herein,we present an all-physical top-down method for the scalable production of the intrinsic TMD quantum sheets(QSs).The phases of the TMDs(e.g.,2H-MoSe_(2),2H-WSe_(2),and Td-WTe2)remain stable during the transformation from bulk to QSs.However,phase transition(from Td to 2H)is detected in MoTe2.Such phase-modulation by size-reduction has never been reported before.The TMD QSs can be well dispersed in solvents,resulting in remarkable photoluminescence with excitation wavelength-,concentration-,and solvent-dependence.Meanwhile,the TMD QSs can be readily solution-processed into hybrid thin films,which demonstrate exceptional nonlinear saturation absorption(NSA).Notably,2H-MoTe2 QSs in poly(methyl methacrylate)show extremely high NSA performance with(absolute)modulation depth up to 46.6%and saturation intensity down to 0.81 MW·cm^(−2).Our work paves the way towards quantum-sized TMDs.

Nonlinear and saturable absorption properties of PbS nanocrystalline thin films

The structural,morphological,optical,and nonlinear optical properties of a lead sulfde(PbS) thin film grown by chemical bath deposition(CBD) are investigated by X-ray difraction(XRD),scanning electron microscope(SEM),ultraviolet-visible(UV-Vis),and open aperture Z-scan experiments.The band gap energy of the PbS nanocrystalline film is 1.82 eV,higher than that of bulk PbS at 300 K.The nonlinear absorption properties of the film are investigated using the open aperture Z-scan technique at 1064 nm and pulse durations of 4 ns and 65 ps.Intensity-dependent switching of the film from nonlinear absorption to saturable absorption is observed.The nonlinear absorption coefficient increases monotonically with increasing pulse duration from 65 ps to 4 ns.

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.

Phase/size dual controlled 2D semiconductor In_(2)X_(3)(X=S,Se,Te)for saturable absorption modulation

The production of two-dimensional nanosheets(2D NSs)with all sizes(1-100 nm)and few(<10)layers is highly desired but far from satisfactory.Herein,we report an all-physical top-down method to produce indium chalcogenide(In2X3(X=S,Se,Te))NSs with wide-range(150-3.0 nm)controlled sizes.The method combines silica-assisted ball-milling and sonication-assisted solvent exfoliation to fabricate multiscale NSs with varying distributions,which are then precisely separated by cascade centrifugation.Multiple characterization techniques reveal that the as-produced In2X3 NSs are intrinsic and defect-free and remainβ-phase during the whole process.The redispersions of In2X3 NSs exhibit prominent excitation wavelength-,solvent-,concentration-,and size-dependent photoluminescence.The NSs-poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA)hybrid thin films demonstrate strong size effects in nonlinear saturation absorption.The absolute modulation depths of 35.4%,43.3%,47.2%and saturation intensities of 1.63,1.05,0.83 MW·cm^(−2)(i.e.,163,105,and 83 nJ·cm^(−2))are derived for the In_(2)S_(3),In_(2)Se_(3),and In2Te3 quantum sheets,respectively.Our method paves the way for mass production and full exploration of full-scale 2D NSs.

Third-order nonlinear optical responses of CuO nanosheets for ultrafast pulse generation

As a representative transition metal oxide,cupric oxide(CuO)has attracted a lot of interest in miscel-laneous fields.In the present work,the prominent third-order nonlinear optical(NLO)features of CuO nanosheets were demonstrated via the typical Z-scan technique at 1 m m.The open-aperture(OA)Z-scan measurements at different intensities clearly showed that CuO nanosheets possessed the saturable ab-sorption(SA),reverse saturable absorption(RSA)and optical limiting behaviors.The closed-aperture(CA)Z-scan technology was implanted to investigate the nonlinear refractive index and the third-order nonlinear susceptibility.In virtue of the strong nonlinear optical absorption properties of CuO nano-sheets,a stable all-solid-state mode-locked laser with the as-prepared CuO nanosheets as saturable absorber at 1.06 m m was realized for the first time.Our work confirmed that CuO nanosheets exhibited outstanding NLO properties,which might stimulate the development in ultrafast photonics and nonlinear optics.