Resonant electronic nonlinearity and laser heating induced nonlinearity of chlorophosphonazo I

The nonlinear refraction of chlorophosphonazo I (CPA I) was investigated using the Z-scan technique with a pulse Nd:YAG laser and a cw HeNe laser as excitation sources. Positive and large nonlinear refractive index attributed to resonant electronic nonlinear effect was observed under pulse 532 nm excitation. Under cw HeNe 633 nm excitation, the origin of optical nonlinearity was discussed in term of laser heating effect. The experimental results show that CPA I will have potential applications in nonlinear optical devices.     

Z-Scan studies of KYW, KYbW, KGW, and Ba(NO3)2 crystals

We present the studies of nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption in promising crystals which are extensively used in Raman lasers or as solid-state laser host materials: Ba(NO₃)₂, KGW, KYW, and KYbW. The single-beam z-scan technique with 1 ps laser pulses at 790 and 395 nm has been applied for the study. Nonlinear refraction-index intensity-coefficients and two-photon absorption coefficients have been determined for the crystals. The considerable enhancement of nonlinear refraction is observed in the crystals at 395 nm.     

Dynamics and interaction of pulses in the modified Manakov model

The two-component vector nonlinear Schrödinger equation, with mixed signs of the nonlinear coefficients, is considered. This equation is integrable by the inverse scattering transform method. The evolution of a single pulse and interaction of pulses are studied. It is shown that the dynamics of a single pulse is reduced to the scalar nonlinear Schrödinger equation of focusing or defocusing type, depending on the initial parameters. It is found that the interaction of pulses results in the appearance of additional solitons and bound states of several solitons. The asymptotic field profile in the non-soliton regime is also obtained.     

Nonlinear Optical Properties of Novel C60 Derivatives under Picosecond Laser Excitation

We investigate the third-order nonlinear optical properties of six novel fullerene derivatives under picosecond laser excitation by Z-scan technique. The experimental results reveal that all the derivatives have very large nonlinear absorption coefficient under 532 nm pulses excitation and great third-order nonlinear refraction index under 1064 nm pulses excitation. The molecular second hyperpolarizabilities are obtained from the experimental results.     

Z-scan study of optical nonlinearities in two fullerene derivatives

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of two fullerene derivatives under picosecond laser excitation have been investigated by Z-scan technique. The experimental results reveal that all the derivatives have very large nonlinear absorption coefficient under 532 nm pulses excitation and great third-order nonlinear refraction index under 1064 nm pulses excitation. The molecular second hyperpolarizabilities have been obtained from the experimental results.     

Transformation of Sign of Nonlinear Refraction between Mo（W）/S/Cu Planar Metal Clusters

Optical nonlinear refractive properties of a series of Mo（W）/S/Cu planar square clusters are investigated using the Z-scan technique with the ns laser pulses at the wavelength of 532 nm. The result shows that the planar metal clusters containing the halogen ligands demonstrate the self-focusing effect, and the other planar metal dusters demonstrate the self-defocusing effect. These facts indicate that the halogen ligands can act as crucial factors in determining the sign of the nonlinear refraction of the Mo（W）/S/Cu planar metal clusters. The analysis of the experimental data shows that the planar clusters with halogen ligands possess greater refraction volume of the excited state than that of the ground state, while the other planar clusters possess the smaller refraction volume of the excited state than that of the ground state.     

Studies on third-order nonlinear optical properties and reverse saturable absorption in polythiophene/poly (methylmethacrylate) composites

We report here the studies on third-order nonlinear optical properties of two novel polythiophene composite films investigated using the Z-scan technique. The measurements were carried out using a Q-switched, frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser producing 7 nanosecond laser pulses at 532 nm. Z-scan results reveal that the composite films exhibit self-defocusing nonlinearity. The real and imaginary parts of the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility were of the order 10⁻¹² esu. The effective excited-state absorption cross section was found to be larger than the ground state absorption cross section, indicating that the operating nonlinear mechanism is reverse saturable absorption (RSA). The polythiophene composite films also exhibit good optical power limiting of the nanosecond laser pulses. The nonlinear optical parameters are found to increase on increasing the strength of the electron-donor group, indicating the dependence of χ ⁽³⁾ on the electron-donor/acceptor units of polythiophenes.     

Determinations of the transient thermal lensing effect in metal cluster Polymer {WS4Cu4I2(bpe)3}n solution by the use of the Z-scan

The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of a novel cluster Polymer {WS₄Cu₄I₂(bpe)₃}_n solution are studied by using Z-scan technique with laser pulses of 4.5 ns pulse-width at a wavelength of 532 nm. The results show that the cluster solution possesses strong nonlinear absorption and refraction. Nonlinear refraction of the cluster is composed of third-order nonlinear refraction and transient thermal effect. The thermal effect is mainly due to the strong nonlinear absorption. Numerical simulations obtained by solving simultaneously photo-acoustic and electromagnetic wave equations, agrees basically with experimental results.     

Self-compression and controllable guidance of multi-millijoule femtosecond laser pulses

Self-compression of multi-millijoule femtosecond laser pulses and dramatic increase of the peak intensity are found in pressurized helium and neon within a range of intensity in which the ionization modification of the material parameters by the pulse is negligible. The pulse propagation is studied by the (3 + 1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation including basic lowest order optical processes - diffraction, second order of dispersion, and third order of nonlinearity. Smooth and well controllable pulse propagation dynamics is found. Construction of compressed pulses of controllable parameters at given space target point by a proper chose of the pulse energy and/or gas pressure is predicted.     

Pulse Temporal Cleaner Based on Nonlinear Ellipse Rotation by Using BK7 Glass Plate

We report a new pulse cleaning technique to enhance the contrast ratio of intense ultra-short laser pulses. A pulse temporal cleaner based on nonlinear ellipse rotation by using BK7 glass plate is developed, and a contrast ratio improvement of two orders of magnitude for the milli-joule level femtoseeond input pulses is demonstrated, the total transmission effieiency of the pulse cleaner is 16. 7%.     

Ported from Self-Similar Analytic Solutions of Ginzburg--Landau Equation with Varying Coefficients

Employing the technique of symmetry reduction of analytic method, we solve the Ginzburg-Landau equation with varying nonlinear, dispersion, gain coefficients, and gain dispersion which originates from the limiting effect of transition bandwidth in the realistic doped fibres. The parabolic asymptotic self-similar analytical solutions in gain medium of the normal GVD is found for the first time to our best knowledge. The evolution of pulse amplitude, strict linear phase chirp and effective temporal width are given with self-similarity results in longitudinal nonlinearity distribution and longitudinal gain fibre. These analytical solutions are in good agreement with the numerical simulations. Furthermore, we theoretically prove that pulse evolution has the characteristics of parabolic asymptotic self-similarity in doped ions dipole gain fibres.     

Generation and propagation of pulse trains with ultrashort pulse separation

We investigate the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with variable coefficients by employing perturbation method. The analysis solution of the harmonic form is presented. The solution is one of forms to describe pulse trains with ultrashort pulse separation, which is about two orders of magnitude shorter than one of sech-type solitons considered before. And we could systematically adjust the perturbation parameter to obtain different pulse separation. As an example, we consider a nonlinear dispersive system with spatial parameter variations, and the results show that, the pulse train with ultrashort pulse separation presented by analysis solution may keep its shape even if the velocity is changed. The stability of the solution is discussed numerically, and the results reveal that the finite initial perturbations, such as white noise could not influence the main character of the solution. In addition, the stability of the solution is also discussed under more general conditions.     

Effects of metallization and bromination on nonlinear optical properties of diphenylporphyrins

Nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption of diphenylporphyrins with bromination and metallization were studied by Z-scan technique in nanosecond and picosecond regimes. Results show that both metallization and bromination of diphenylporphyrins can cause the regular change of magnitude and sign of nonlinear absorption. The transition between saturable absorption and reverse saturable absorption happens as bromine increases and metal ion changes. The effect of bromination on nonlinear refraction is small, the change of nonlinear refraction is mainly attributed to the metallization. Influences of photophysical parameters on nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction have been elucidated using five-level models.     

Effect of self assembly on the nonlinear optical characteristics of ZnO thin films

In the present work, we report the third order nonlinear optical properties of ZnO thin films deposited using self assembly, sol gel process as well as pulsed laser ablation by z scan technique. ZnO thin films clearly exhibit a negative nonlinear index of refraction at 532 nm and the observed nonlinear refraction is attributed to two photon absorption followed by free carrier absorption. Although the absolute nonlinear values for these films are comparable, there is a change in the sign of the absorptive nonlinearity of the films. The films developed by dip coating and pulsed laser ablation exhibit reverse saturable absorption whereas the self assembled film exhibits saturable absorption. These different nonlinear characteristics in the self assembled films can be mainly attributed to the saturation of linear absorption of the ZnO defect states.     

Carrier-envelope offset phase control: A novel concept for absolute optical frequency measurement and ultrashort pulse generation

The shortest pulses periodically emitted directly from a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser are approaching the two-optical-cycle range. In this region, the phase of the optical carrier with respect to the pulse envelope becomes important in nonlinear optical processes such as high-harmonic generation. Because there are no locking mechanisms between envelope and carrier inside a laser, their relative phase offset experiences random fluctuations. Here, we propose several novel methods to measure and to stabilize this carrier-envelope offset (CEO) phase with sub-femtosecond uncertainty. The stabilization methods are an important prerequisite for attosecond pulse generation schemes. Short and highly periodic pulses of a two-cycle laser correspond to an extremely wide frequency comb of equally spaced lines, which can be used for absolute frequency measurements. Using the proposed phase-measurement methods, it will be possible to phase-coherently link any unknown optical frequency within the comb spectrum to a primary microwave standard. Experimental studies using a sub-6-fs Ti:sapphire laser suggesting the feasibility of carrier-envelope phase control are presented. Received: 19 August 1999 / Published online: 8 September 1999     

Nonlinear refraction and absorption in hetero- thiometallic planar clusters

The nonlinear absorption and refraction of the clusters [MoS₄Cu₄Br₂(py)₆] and [Et₄N]₂[MoS₄Cu₄(SCN)₄(2-pic)₄] have been investigated using the z-scan technique with a ns laser at 532 nm wavelength. They have the same planar ‘open’ structures and the same skeleton metal atoms; the only difference is that the former has halogen ligands while the latter possesses pseudo-halogen groups – SCN – as ligands. Alteration of nonlinear refractive index and enhancement of nonlinear absorption were found in these two clusters. A steady state model of excited state nonlinear refraction was proposed to explain this phenomenon. Received: 12 June 2001 / Revised version: 4 September 2001 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Inertia of the bound-electron Kerr-type optical nonlinearity in transparent solids

The inertia of the Kerr-type nonlinear-optical response of bound electrons in solids is analyzed. It is shown that, in the case of wide-gap materials, away from the mid-gap frequency E_g/2?, E_g being the band gap, the inertia of this response becomes noticeable only for attosecond pulse features. However, near E_g/2?, where the inertia of bound-electron Kerr-type optical nonlinearity is enhanced by a strong dispersion of two-photon absorption and where the nonlinear refraction is especially strong, light pulses as long as tens and even hundreds of femtoseconds are expected to experience self-steepening and an asymmetric spectral broadening due to the retarded Kerr effect.     

Strong two-photon-induced fluorescence from a highly soluble polythiophene

Two-photon-induced fluorescence from a soluble polythiophene containing urethane side groups has been investigated using femto-second laser pulses at 800 nm. Strong two-photon fluorescence was measured in polymer solution. The quadratic dependence of the fluorescence on the excitation laser intensity confirmed the two-photon process. The measured two-photon absorption cross-section is larger as compared to those of other reported polythiophenes. This polymer can be readily hydrolyzed to yield a water soluble polythiophene which could be useful in biological imaging.     

Nonlinear optical absorption studies of an organo-metallic complex by Z-scan technique

An organo-metallic complex, [(CH₃)₄N][Ni(dmit)₂] (dmit²⁻ = (1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolate), abbreviated as MeNi, is synthesized. The nonlinear optical absorption properties of MeNi dissolved in acetone have been studied using the open-aperture Z-scan technique with 40 ps pulse width at 1064 nm and 1 ns, 15 ns pulse width at 1053 nm, respectively. Strong saturable absorption has been found when the sample solution is irradiated by 40 ps and 1 ns laser pulses. While irradiated with 15 ns laser pulse, a stronger reverse saturable absorption has been found. The nonlinear optical absorption coefficients are −1.03 × 10⁻¹¹ m/W, −1.85 × 10⁻¹¹ m/W and 3.84 × 10⁻¹⁰ m/W, respectively. The mechanism responsible for the difference between the results is analyzed. All the results suggest that this material may be a promising candidate for the application to laser pulse compression in the near-infrared waveband.     

Nonlinear optical properties of a series of azobenzene liquid-crystalline materials

The nonlinear optical properties of a series of azobenzene liquid-crystalline materials, which have different side-chain lengths in their molecular structure from one to another, were investigated using Z-scan method under picosecond pulse laser at 532 nm, 1064 nm and CW 488 nm excitation. The mechanism accounting for the process of nonlinear refraction was discussed under different laser excitations. The polymer films possess very large nonlinear refraction at all the three different laser excitations. Especially, the nonlinear refractive index becomes larger as the length of side-chain, where azobenzene group is contained, increases under pulse excitation at 1064 nm.