Optical limiting and nonlinear optical properties of GO functionalized by CdTe quantum dots

Abstract

In this work Graphene Oxide (GO), CdTe quantum dots and GO-CdTe compounds were prepared and experimentally verified. Thereafter the nonlinear optical properties and optical limiting of the samples were studied for the GO-CdTe samples that were mixed (Bench Mark) and sonicated for 10 min. and 20 min. Using a low power laser diode at a 532 nm wavelength, the thermal nonlinear refractive index of these samples was determined by the Z-scan technique and the thermal lens model. The optical limiting effect was also investigated using the 2nd harmonics of a pulsed Nd-YAG laser at 532 nm. Our results showed that CdTe didn't show any appreciable optical limiting effect but when it was dispersed in GO, it caused a decrease in the optical limiting threshold. On the whole, GO-CdTe compounds show enhanced optical limiting features compare to GO and CdTe samples.