Effects of boron doping in InSe single crystals on optical limiting performance in the near-infrared region

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Identification of photonic materials with high infrared transmittance and high nonlinear optical coefficients is one of the main emphases in material science as a result of the rapid advancement in infrared photonics. In this study, undoped and B (boron) -doped InSe single crystals were grown by using the modified vertical Bridgman method, and their nonlinear optical properties were investigated to reveal their usability as an optical limiter in the near-infrared region. The decreasing band gap energies and increasing defect states were determined with increasing B concentration in InSe single crystals. The effect of the B concentration on the nonlinear absorption (NA) and optical limiting properties of the InSe single crystals was investigated via open aperture (OA) Z-scan experiments under ultrafast laser excitation at 1200 nm wavelength with 100 femtosecond pulse duration. Two-photon absorption (TPA) was the dominant NA mechanism at 1200 nm excitation wavelength in the femtosecond domain. The results revealed that the NA became stronger with increasing input intensity and increasing amount of B dopant atoms in the InSe single crystal. The observed enhanced NA can be attributed to two possible events (i) increasing input intensity induced more excited electrons which led to more contribution to NA through TPA and (ii) increasing B dopant atoms in InSe single crystal induced more defect states. The NA may be more enhanced with the contribution of these defect states related NA mechanisms. The high transparency and strong NA behavior at the near-infrared region make these single crystals exceptional potential candidates for developing various optoelectronics and filters at the near-infrared spectral region.