Viscosity sensing by low power optical self phase modulation in two dimensional copper oxide nanostructures

Abstract

Viscosity is an inherent property of fluids and thus an important parameter in a variety of application. However current viscosity measurement methods necessitate direct contact with the liquid sample, which is normally undesirable. Herein we have reported viscosity sensing by low power optical self phase modulation (SSPM) in 2D CuO layered nanostructuresin glucose solution. The SSPM ring pattern formation time is found to be varied almost linearly with viscosity of the glucose solution. The third-order nonlinear susceptibility (χ3) of the nanostructure has been evaluated and is found to be 5.76 × 10−6 esu.The viscosity of an unknown glucose solution has been evaluated by this technique which matched extremely well with the theoretical value. The high n2 value of the nanostructures indicates its usability in opto-electronic applications like all optical switching, etc.