Nanosecond Z-scan Research Articles

Enhanced Optical Limiting of Gold Nanoparticles/Porous Carbon Nanocomposites.

With the wide application of laser weapons, the requirements of laser protection technology are becoming more and more strict. Therefore, it is important to find ideal optical limiting (OL) materials to protect human eyes and detectors. In this work, the nonlinear optical responses of gold nanoparticles/porous carbon (Au NPs/PC) nanocomposites prepared by the reduction method were studied using the nanosecond Z-scan technique. Compared with porous carbon, the Au NPs/PC nanocomposites show a lower damage threshold, a bigger optical limiting index and a wider absorption spectrum. The interaction between gold nanoparticles and porous carbon enhances the nonlinear scattering effect of suspended bubbles. These results indicate that Au NPs composites have potential applications in the protection of human eyes and detectors.

Optical Limiting Response of Porous Carbon Dispersions.

With the wide application of intense lasers, the protection of human eyes and detectors from laser damage is becoming more and more strict. In this paper, we study the nonlinear optical limiting (OL) properties of porous carbon with a super large specific surface area (2.9 × 103 m2/g) using the nanosecond Z-scan technique. Compared to the traditional OL material C60, the porous carbon material shows an excellent broadband limiting effect, and the limiting thresholds correspond to 0.11 J/cm2 for 532 nm and 0.25 J/cm2 for 1064 nm pulses, respectively. The nonlinear scattering experiments showed that the OL behavior was mainly attributed to the nonlinear scattering effect, which is caused by the rapid growth and expansion of bubbles in the dispersion induced by laser irradiation, and the scattered light distribution is consistent with the results of Mie's scattering. These results suggest that porous carbon materials are expected to be applied to the field of laser protection in the future to further protect the human eye and precision optical instruments.

Nonlinear optical limiting effect and charge transfer dynamics in a Fe-porphyrin metal-organic framework

The nonlinear absorption effect in a Fe-porphyrin metal-organic framework (Co-TCPP(Fe) MOF) was studied using the nanosecond Z-scan technique, which showed an enhanced reverse saturation absorption (RSA) compared with TCPP(Fe) ligand. By femtosecond transient absorption (fs-TA) measurements, the charge transfer dynamics of MOF are unveiled. Compared with TCPP(Fe) ligand, the ultrafast formation of charge separation states (CSSs) with extra-long lifetime (> 3.5 ns) detracts the recombination of electron-hole pairs, resulting in an enhanced excited state absorption (ESA). Based on the strong ESA caused by CSSs absorption, the MOF nanosheets showed an excellent optical limiting (OL) effect with the OL threshold of 0.89 J/cm2.

Impact of aluminum doping on nonlinear absorption and ultrafast carriers dynamics of Al:CdO thin films

Al:CdO thin films with different aluminum doping concentrations were prepared via magnetron sputtering technique with various sputtering power. It is found that the band gap Eg of Al:CdO films gradually increases with the increase of Al doping concentration, while the crystallinity became poor at high doping concentration. The nonlinear absorption properties of the film were characterized by nanosecond Z-scan measurements. The Z-scan results show that the nonlinear absorption coefficient β of Al:CdO thin films could be effectively modulated by Al concentration, and the maximum of β (2 × 10−6 m/W) is achieved around 20 W sputtering power. The carrier dynamics of Al:CdO thin films were studied by femtosecond pump–probe measurements. The results show that the carrier relaxation lifetime, carriers absorption cross section and carriers refraction volume are larger in the high Al concentration film. The optical limiting properties of Al: CdO films were also studied. These results demonstrate that the Al:CdO film is a promising candidate for applications in all optical switches and laser devices.

Wavelength-Dependent Nonlinear Absorption in Platinum Nanoparticles at Off-Resonant Wavelength

In order to obtain optical nonlinear materials with high transparency and low propagation loss in the visible and infrared range, noble metal materials in the off-resonant band have become a hot spot in the optical field in recent years. Therefore, the nonlinear absorption characteristics of platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) with the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in the ultraviolet band were investigated with multi-wavelength (500–700 nm) nanosecond Z-scan technology. The measurement results showed that the SPR wavelength of PtNPs was far away from the excitation wavelength, but there were still the saturated absorption (SA) and the reverse saturated absorption (RSA) phenomena, and the size of nonlinear absorption was related to the excitation wavelength and the excitation energy. When the excitation wavelength was constant, with the increase in excitation energy, PtNPs converted from SA to RSA. When the excitation energy was constant, with the excitation wavelength approaching SPR, PtNPs also converted from SA to RSA. The SA and RSA phenomena in the off-resonant region were complementary to the systematic study of the nonlinearity of PtNPs.

Strengthened Optical Nonlinearity of V2C Hybrids Inlaid with Silver Nanoparticles

The investigation of nonlinear optical characteristics resulting from the light–matter interactions of two-dimensional (2D) nano materials has contributed to the extensive use of photonics. In this study, we synthesize a 2D MXene (V2C) monolayer nanosheet by the selective etching of Al from V2AlC at room temperature and use the nanosecond Z-scan technique with 532 nm to determine the nonlinear optical characters of the Ag@V2C hybrid. The z-scan experiment reveals that Ag@V2C hybrids usually exhibits saturable absorption owing to the bleaching of the ground state plasma, and the switch from saturable absorption to reverse saturable absorption takes place. The findings demonstrate that Ag@V2C has optical nonlinear characters. The quantitative data of the nonlinear absorption of Ag@V2C varies with the wavelength and the reverse saturable absorption results from the two-photon absorption, which proves that Ag@V2C hybrids have great potential for future ultrathin optoelectronic devices.

Study on Excited State Kinetics and Optical Limiting Performance of Triphenylamine-Based Chalcone Derivatives: Effect of the Molecular π-Conjugated Structure.

Optical limiting (OL) is an important application of nonlinear optics. Summarizing the structure-property relationship of organic materials is an effective means to develop superior optical limiters. In this work, two triphenylamine-based chalcone derivatives T1 and T2 with different peripheral substituent groups were synthesized to study their transient kinetics and nonlinear optical (NLO) absorption performance. The transient absorption spectrum (TAS) of compounds T1 and T2 in solvents of varying polarities visualizes the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) processes between the local excited state (LES) and the charge transfer state (CTS). Nanosecond Z-scan experiment and hole-electron analysis indicate that all compounds have excellent reverse saturated absorption (RSA) performance at 532 nm and T1 exhibits stronger RSA than T2 due to the stronger ICT performance of T1 caused by the halogen effect. Degenerate pump-probe experiment shows that the ESA of T2 at 532 nm is significantly enhanced by expanding the molecular π-conjugation. Under the premise of consistent linear transmittance (78%), compound T2 shows better OL performance than compound T1 at 532 nm in the nanosecond time domain. The OL thresholds of T1 and T2 are 3.72 and 0.72 J cm-2, respectively, which are better than those of the most reported OL materials. Our research shows that simple and common chalcone derivatives exhibit amazing NLO performance through a reasonable design.

Investigation on optical switching behaviour of regenerated and non-regenerated silk by nanosecond Z-scan technique

The nonlinear optical behaviour of silk, a natural fibre, is investigated in this study. We have considered silk in the cocoon, fibre and film forms of bivoltine and multivoltine breeds. The nonlinear absorption and optical limiting studies were performed using the open aperture Z-scan technique at 1064 nm. Interestingly, silk in cocoon and fibre form possess saturable absorption (SA), whereas silk in the film form exhibits reverse saturable absorption (RSA). This shift is attributed to the removal of sericin during the regeneration of silk into a film. Further, silk films exhibit optical limiting behaviour, whose limiting thresholds are in the order of 1012 W cm−2. Functional data analysis (FDA), a statistical approach, is employed to draw correlations amongst physical parameters. FDA offers good insight into the dependencies between silk varieties and their optical parameters. This helps in identifying the sample possessing the best properties.

Post-irradiation examination of optical components for advanced fission reactor instrumentation.

The use of optical instrumentation in advanced nuclear fission systems, such as molten salt reactors, liquid metal-cooled reactors, and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, has the potential to enhance reactor safety and economic performance through in situ and online measurement of reactor conditions. Selection of suitable optical components, such as optical windows and fibers, is essential for operation of optical instrumentation in intense radioactive and thermal environments inherent to nuclear reactor systems. We present the development and performance of a self-contained and mobile post-irradiation examination system for rapid characterization of the optical properties of materials. The instrument combines linear absorption and nanosecond Z-scan modules in a compact, relocatable design. The system mobility allows for the evaluation of optical samples at the site of irradiation, minimizing the delay between extraction from the irradiation site and optical characterization. This provides nearly real-time information on the material performance under simultaneous irradiation and thermal annealing, simulating the relevant conditions for the use of those components in nuclear power systems.

Switchable nonlinear absorption and ultrafast dynamics process of Nb2CTx

The nonlinear absorption of two-dimensional (2 D) Nb2CTx (MXene) nanosheets were investigated by using nanosecond Z-scan measurements in 532 nm under different laser intensities. It was found that, Nb2CTx nanosheets exhibit from saturable absorption (SA) to reverse saturable absorption (RSA). With the increase of incident intensity, a switch from SA to RSA occurs under some excitation intensities. Besides, ultrafast carrier dynamics of Nb2CTx nanosheets were also investigated by using pump-probe technique. It was found that the relaxation contains a biexponential decay process with two decay components, a fast and a slow one. The investigations show that Nb2CTx nanosheets can be used as building ultrashort pulse generation and optoelectronic devices.

Synthesis, characterization and third-order nonlinear optical behaviour of three novel ethyne-linked donor/acceptor chromophores

Three novel ethyne-linked donor/acceptor chromophores, BAB, BAS and SAS were synthesized. The results of BAB in femtosecond and nanosecond Z-scan at 532 nm reveal that the transition from saturable absorption (SA) to reverse saturable absorption (RSA), while that of BAS and SAS display RSA. The femtosecond Z-scan results for all compounds at 600 nm–800 nm indicate the obvious RSA, which can be mainly attributed to the two-photon absorption (TPA). The TA results demonstrate that all compounds display strong excited-state absorption and long lifetime, and the evolution of TA spectra for these compounds reveals the relaxation process from the local excited-state (LE) to charge transfer state (CTS). With different conjugation extent and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), the nonlinear response and excited-state dynamics of these chromophores could be dramatically modulated. The threshold of BAS/DCM solution excited at 532 nm with nanosecond pulse was 0.631 J/cm2. The results indicate that these compounds may be the potential candidates for future application in optical limiting.

Wavelength-Dependent Nonlinear Absorption in Palladium Nanoparticles

This paper aims to study the nonlinear absorption characteristics of palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) at off-resonant wavelengths. For this purpose, multi-wavelength (500–650 nm) nanosecond Z-scan technique was used. The experimental results indicate that saturated absorption (SA) and the transition from SA to reverse saturated absorption (RSA) can occur, and depends on the excitation wavelength and energy. When the excitation wavelength is constant, with the increase of excitation energy, PdNPs change from SA to RSA. When the excitation energy is constant, with the excitation wavelength approaching surface plasmon resonance (SPR), PdNPs change from SA to RSA. This phenomenon of SA and RSA under multi-wavelength excitation in the off-resonant region provides a supplement for the systematic study of the nonlinear absorption of PdNPs.

Enhanced nonlinear optical absorption of WS2 by Ag nanoparticles

The nonlinear absorption and ultrafast dynamics process of WS2 and WS2-Ag nanocomposite were investigated by using nanosecond Z-scan measurements and femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectrum, respectively. Z-scan measurements showed that WS2 exhibit saturation absorption (SA) at low excitation intensities, with the increase of incident intensity, a switch from SA to reverse saturation absorption (RSA) occurs, but WS2-Ag nanocomposite exhibit SA at the same intensity. Transient absorption spectrum provided information show that the response time did not change much. The investigation shows that WS2 and WS2-Ag nanocomposite can be used for mode-locker and optical switcher.

Resonant enhancement of nonlinear absorption and ultrafast dynamics of WS2 nanosheets

The comparative study on nonlinear absorption of WS2 nanosheets was performed by using nanosecond Z-scan measurements at 532 nm and 500 nm. It was found that, WS2 nanosheets exhibit saturable absorption (SA) at low excitation intensities, and the saturable intensity at 500 nm is much stronger than that at 532 nm, which implies that resonance plays main role. With the increase of incident intensity, a switch from SA to reverse saturable absorption (RSA) occurs. Besides, ultrafast dynamics of WS2 nanosheets were investigated by using femtosecond pump-probe technique. Photo-dynamics process was found to contain a double exponential energy relaxation with a fast decay component (14 ps) and a slow one (145 ps).

Role of thermal and photoannealing on nonlinear optical response of Ge30Se55Bi15 thin films

In this article, we employed the nanosecond Z-scan technique to demonstrate the nonlinear optical response in Ge30Se55Bi15 thin films after thermal and photoannealing. The intensity dependent open aperture Z-scan traces reveal that all the samples, i.e., as-prepared, thermal, and photoannealed thin films, exhibit reverse saturable absorption. The experimental results indicate that both thermal and photoannealing can be efficiently used to enhance the nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) compared to the as-prepared sample. We further demonstrate that the β value of thermally annealed and as-prepared samples increases significantly at higher intensities. On the contrary, the β value of the photoannealed sample does not exhibit appreciable changes against the intensity variation.

Stereochemical Effects on Platinum Acetylide Two-Photon Chromophores.

A series of cis-platinum(II) acetylide complexes containing two-photon-absorbing chromophores have been synthesized and characterized to explore the effects of stereochemistry on the nonlinear absorption properties. The molecules feature 4-(phenylethynyl)phenylethynylene (PE2), diphenylaminofluorene (DPAF), and benzothiazolylfluorene (BTF) ligands. The photophysical properties were investigated under one- and two-photon conditions and compared to the known trans analogues via UV-visible absorption, photoluminescence, femtosecond and nanosecond transient absorption (TA), nanosecond z-scan, and femtosecond two-photon absorption (2PA). The bent cis complexes exhibit blue shifts in the absorption, emission, femtosecond, and nanosecond TA spectra along with lower molar extinction coefficients and lower phosphorescence yields relative to the trans complexes suggesting less efficient Pt-induced spin-orbit coupling and intersystem crossing in the cis configuration. The cis chromophores are noncentrosymmetric and therefore show dipolar behavior with a pronounced 2PA in the 0-0 transition of the S0 → S1 band, while the trans complexes show quadrupolar behavior with a forbidden 0-0 transition. In the S0 → Sn region, both cis and trans complexes show intense two-photon-absorption bands (up to 3700 GM by the peak cross section for cis-BTF) which contain a significant contribution from the excited state absorption (S1 → Sn). All six complexes exhibit comparable nonlinear absorption response with a significant contribution from triplet-triplet absorption that slightly favors trans complexes but is more strongly dependent upon the structure of the π-conjugated chromophore.

Wavelength-dependent nonlinear absorption and ultrafast dynamics process of WS2

The nonlinear absorption and ultrafast dynamic process of WS2 nanosheets were investigated by using a broadband (ranging from 450 to 700 nm) nanosecond Z-scan technique. Z-scan measurements showed that WS2 nanosheets exhibit saturable absorption (SA), and the magnitude of SA is wavelength-dependent. Besides, the ultrafast dynamics process of WS2 was also investigated with femtosecond transient absorption spectrum. It was found that there is a double-exponential energy relaxation in the process. The investigation shows that WS2 nanosheets can be used for ultrashort pulse generation and a wide spectral range optical absorber.

Wavelength-dependent nonlinear absorption and ultrafast dynamics process of Au triangular nanoprisms.

The nonlinear absorption and ultrafast dynamics process of Au triangular nanoprisms were investigated by using broadband (ranging from 550 to 700 nm) nanosecond Z-scan measurements and femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectrum, respectively. We found that Au triangular nanoprisms exhibit saturation absorption (SA) at low excitation intensities. With the increase of incident intensity, a switch from SA to reverse saturation absorption (RSA) occurs. Photo-dynamics process was found to be a double-exponential energy relaxation with a fast and a slow decay component. Interestingly, when probe wavelength is away from the plasma resonance peak, the decay of relaxation also shows the modulation due to the vibration mode of the coherent excitation.

Quantification of nonlinear absorption in ternary As-Sb-Se chalcogenide glasses

In this article, we studied intensity dependent third order nonlinear optical response in ternary As40Sb7Se53 and As40Sb10Se50 chalcogenide glasses by employing the nanosecond Z-scan technique. At low intensities, we observed saturable absorption in As40Sb7Se53 which makes a remarkable transition to reverse saturable absorption at higher intensities. On the other hand, when the Sb concentration increased in As40Sb10Se50, saturable absorption disappears and the sample exhibits only two-photon absorption. Experimental results further indicate that the strong two-photon absorption in our samples can be exploited to fabricate high performance solid state optical limiting devices for the next generation all-optical network.

Fabrication and nonlinear optical characterization of fluorinated zinc phthalocyanine covalently modified black phosphorus/PMMA films using the nanosecond Z-scan technique

Compared to the BP/PMMA and F12NH2PcZn/PMMA films, both the non-annealed and annealed F12PcZn–BP/PMMA films show more superior nonlinear optical (including optical limiting) properties.