Novel Indium nanocomposites for Photonic applications

Abstract

In the present communication, MgO:In2O3- 1:1 (MIO), SrO/MgO/In2O3 (1:1:1) (SMIO), SrO/Al2O3/In2O3 (1:1:1) (SAIO) and CeO2/ZnO/In2O3 (1:1:1) (CZIO) NCs are synthesized by Punicagranatum juice extract as a reducing agent followed by calcination at 600 °C for 3 h. The Bragg reflections confirm that Magnesium indate, SrO, Al2O3, ZnO crystallizes in orthorhombic, trigonal, rhombohedral and hexagonal crystalline phases whereas CeO2, In2O3 and MgO crystallizes in cubic phase. Surface morphology consists large number of irregularly sized and shaped nanoparticles along with few pores and hallows. The direct energy band gap was determined using Wood and Tauc’s plot. The direct energy band gap was found to be 3.12, 3.15, 3.18 and 3.05 eV. The optical nonlinearity of the specimens was investigated using the open aperture Z-scan technique. With the exception of SAIO, the synthesized samples exhibited reverse saturable absorption attributed to a two-photon absorption (2PA) process. The nonlinear absorption coefficient follows the order CZIO > MIO > SMIO. However, the optical limiting threshold follows the order SMIO > MIO > CZIO NCs. These findings distinctly highlight the superior potential of CZIO binary NCs for optical limiting applications. This characteristic is advantageous for shielding sensors and the human eye, providing protection against the detrimental effects of intense green laser radiation. Unexpectedly, the SAIO NCs displayed Q-switching behavior. This behavior holds potential applications in optical discriminators, spatial light filters, optical isolation, and other photonic mode-locking devices.