Z-scan determination of the third-order optical nonlinearities of an azo dye using diode-pumped Nd:Yag laser

Optical nonlinearity of dye solutions are studied with considerable interest for their wide spread applications ranging from gain media in lasers to all-optical processing signal devices. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of Brilliant Crocein dye was measured by the Z-scan technique and measurements were carried out for different concentrations. The negative sign of the nonlinear refractive index n₂ indicates that this material exhibits self-defocusing optical nonlinearity and purely saturation absorption at the wavelength 532 nm of the diode-pumped Nd:YAG. These results show that Brilliant Crocein has potential applications in nonlinear optics.