On the measurement of the nonlinear optical response of graphene dispersions using fs lasers.

Abstract

In this work, the nonlinear optical (NLO) response of some graphene dispersions is investigated under low (i.e., 10 Hz) and high (i.e., 80 MHz) repetition rate femtosecond (fs) laser excitation conditions, using ${Z}$Z-scan, optical Kerr effect (OKE), and a combination of ${Z}$Z-scan and thermal lensing techniques. It is shown, that the NLO response of graphene dispersions is negligible under low repetition rate fs laser excitation, while it becomes very large under high repetition rate laser excitation. In the latter case, it is shown that the observed very large NLO response arises entirely from thermal cumulative effects.