Exploitation of electric field assisted optical signal amplification in ferroelectric photorefractive K0.50Na0.50NbO3 thin film

Abstract

The exploitation of non-linear optical property of potassium sodium niobate [K x Na 1-x NbO 3 (x = 0.50 or KNN-50)] thin film using the two-wave mixing technique in the presence of an external electric field has been performed for the first time. The results show that the presence of external electric field enhances the non-linear optical activity in the KNN-50 medium. For this study, the KNN-50 thin film was prepared on fused quartz substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. XRD study confirms the formation of perovskite phase, and the FESEM image supports the growth of densely packed micro-structured KNN-50 thin film. The band gap of 800 nm thick KNN-50 thin film was found to be 4.1 eV. The electric field assisted nonlinear optical studies are promising, and opens large opportunity of incorporation of these KNN-50 thin films in the development of non-linear optical devices. • The exploitation of non-linear optical property of potassium sodium niobate [K x Na 1-x NbO 3 (x = 0.50 or KNN-50)] thin film using the two-wave mixing technique in the presence of an external electric field has been performed for the first time. • K 0.50 Na 0.50 NbO 3 films were deposited on fused quartz substrate using PLD technique. • XRD study confirms the formation of perovskite phase, and the FESEM image supports the growth of densely packed micro-structured KNN-50 thin film. • Strong non-linear optical property was observed in photorefractive KNN thin films using Two wave mixing technique via the pump-probe set-up. • The obtained results in the present work for KNN thin film are of great significance for its prospective applications in the field of photorefractive devices, electro-optic devices and light modulators .