Third order nonlinear optical properties of ethyltriphenylphosphonium bis(2-thioxo-1,3-dithiole-4,5-dithiolato)aurate (III)

A novel organometallic compound, ethyltriphenylphosphonium bis(2-thioxo-1,3-dithiole-4,5-dithiolato)aurate (III), abbreviated as TPEPADT, was synthesized. The TPEPADT doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thin film with a mass fraction of 1% (1 wt.%) was prepared by using a spin-coating method. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of TPEPADT in acetonitrile solution and TPEPADT-doped PMMA thin film were investigated by using the laser Z-scan technique at the wavelength 1064 nm with laser duration of 20 ps. The linear refractive index of the polymer thin film was also studied. The Z-scan curves revealed that both TPEPADT in acetonitrile solution and the polymer thin film possessed negative nonlinear refraction, exhibiting a self-defocusing effect and nonlinear absorption was negligible under the experimental conditions used. The nonlinear refractive index was calculated to be ?1.9 × 10^?18 m²/W for TPEPADT in acetonitrile solution and ?8.9 × 10^?15 m²/W for the polymer thin film. These results suggest that TPEPADT have potential for the application of all-optical switching devices.     

Short pulse Z -scan investigations of optical nonlinearities of a novel organometallic complex: [(C2H5)4N]2[Cu(dmit)2] at 532 and 1064?nm

A novel dmit organometallic complex: [(C₂H₅)₄N]₂[Cu(dmit)₂] (dmit^2-=1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolate), abbreviated as EtCu, was synthesized. Afterwards its optical nonlinearities in acetone solution at 532 nm and 1064 nm were studied by the Z-scan technique with laser pulses of picosecond duration. The two-photon absorption at 1064 nm and the saturable absorption at 532 nm were observed. The Z-scan curves also revealed that EtCu sample solutions exhibited self-defocusing effects at both wavelengths. The origins were analyzed for the differences between the results. All the outcomes suggest that this material is potential for nonlinear optical device applications. PACS 42.65.An; 42.65.Hw; 42.65.Jx; 81.20.Ka; 78.30.Jw     

Nonlinear properties of polyurethane-urea/multi-wall carbon nanotube composite films

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of polyurethane-urea/multiwalled carbon nanotube composites (PU/MWNT) films with different MWNT concentrations are investigated by the use of the Z-scan technique at a wavelength of 532 nm with a pulse duration of 8 ns. The results reveal that the nonlinear refraction and absorption coefficients are linearly dependent on the MWNT concentration. The negative nonlinear refraction effect is validated from the closed-aperture Z-scan measurements. We find that PU/MWNT films are promising nonlinear optical materials, and the nonlinear coefficients can be controlled.     

Investigation on third-order nonlinear optical properties of two Au(dmit)2/PMMA thin films by Z-scan technique in picosecond pulse regime

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of two Au(dmit)₂/PMMA compound thin films, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bis(1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolato)aurate and tetramethylammonium bis(1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolato)aurate (abbreviated as MeAu and CtAu, respectively) with a doping concentration of 1?wt.% deposited on quartz-glass substrate were characterized by a single beam Z-scan technique at 1064?nm with 20?ps laser pulse width and 10?Hz repetition rate. The dominant nonlinear refraction and tiny nonlinear absorption of both materials lead to a larger possibility for them to be applied as promising candidates of all-optical switching. The results of two figures of merit, |W|?1 and |T|?1, were also calculated; this further validated the excellent properties of the materials for applications of the nonlinear optics.     

Nonlinear optical properties of erbium doped zinc oxide (EZO) thin films

Undoped and Erbium (Er) doped zinc oxide (EZO) thin films were deposited on glass substrate by sol–gel method using spin coating technique with different doping concentration. EZO films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV–VIS-NIR transmission and single beam z scan method under illumination of frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser. The deposited films were found to be well crystallized with hexagonal wurtzite structure having a preferential growth orientation along the ZnO (002) plane. A blue-shift was observed in the band gap of EZO films with increasing Er concentration. All the films exhibited a negative value of nonlinear refractive index (n₂) at 532 nm which is attributed to the two photon absorption and weak free carrier absorption. Third order nonlinear optical susceptibility, χ⁽³⁾ values of EZO films were observed in the remarkable range of 10^? 6 esu. EZO (0.4 at.%) sample was found to be the best optical limiter with limiting threshold of 1.95 KJ/cm².     

Optical properties of amorphous Si/SiO2superlattice

Amorphous Si/SiO₂(a-Si/SiO₂) superlattices have been fabricated by the magnetron sputtering technique. The superlattice with an Si layer thickness of 1.8 nm has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The result indicates that most of the regions in the Si layer consist of amorphous phase, while regular structure appears in some local regions. This is in agreement with the Raman scattering spectroscopy. The optical absorption spectrum and photoluminescence (PL) spectrum have been measured. Moreover, the third-order optical nonlinearity χ⁽³⁾of this superlattice has been measured. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation of the nonlinear absorption and refractive index of an a-Si/SiO₂superlattice using the Z -scan technique. The real and imaginary parts of χ⁽³⁾have been found to be 1.316  ×  10 ^− 7eus and  − 5.596  ×  10 ^− 7eus, respectively, which are about two orders of magnitude greater than those of porous silicon. The results may be attractive for potential application in electro-optics devices.     

Nonlinear magnetoelastic effects in ultrathin epitaxial FCC Co(0 0 1) films:: an ab initio study

Those linear and nonlinear magnetoelastic coupling coefficients which determine the magnetostrictive stress and the strain-induced out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy in epitaxially grown FCC Co(0 0 1) films are calculated by the ab initio density functional electron theory. The nonlinear couplings have a strong effect on the change Δσ₁^m of the in-plane magnetostrictive stress resulting from a change of the magnetization direction from [0 1 0] to [1 0 0], but a negligibly small effect on the out-of-plane anisotropy e_MCA. The calculations confirm the experimental result that the measured out-of-plane anisotropy cannot be totally attributed to volume magnetoelastic effects. Estimates are given for the nonlinear magnetoelastic coupling coefficients m₁^γ,2 and m₂^γ,2.     

Diffraction patterns and nonlinear optical properties of gold nanoparticles

Stable gold nanoparticles have been prepared by using soluble starch as both the reducing and stabilizing agents; this reaction was carried out at 40 °C for 5 h. The obtained gold nanoparticles were characterized by UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and z-scan technique. The size of these nanoparticles was found to be in the range of 12–22 nm as analyzed using transmission electron micrographs. The optical properties of gold nanoparticles have been measured showing the surface plasmon resonance. The second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties were investigated by using a continuous-wave (CW) He–Ne laser beam with a wavelength of 632.8 nm at three different incident intensities by means of single beam techniques. The nonlinear refractive indices of gold nanoparticles were obtained from close aperture z-scan in order of 10^?7 cm²/W. Then, they were compared with diffraction patterns observed in far-field. The nonlinear absorption of these nanoparticles was obtained from open aperture z-scan technique. The values of nonlinear absorption coefficient are obtained in order of 10^?1 cm/W.     

Ultrafast nonlinear optical properties of dye-doped PMMA discs irradiated by 40 fs laser pulses

The two-photon absorption (TPA) characteristics of PMMA discs doped with three different dyes were studied using an fs-pulsed Ti-Sapphire laser as the pump source, and employing the open-aperture Z-scan technique. TPA cross-sections obtained for PMMA doped with the dyes PM597, DCM and rhodamine 6G–rhodamine B (co-doped) were found to be equal to 24.7, 33.3 and 32.3 GM, respectively (1 GM=10^?50 cm⁴ s phot^?1 mol^?1). Furthermore, two-photon fluorescence was measured for the samples containing DCM and rhodamine 6G–rhodamine B (co-doped). Compared to the one-photon fluorescence spectrum, the peaks in the two-photon fluorescence spectrum were red shifted and the extent of red shift increased with increasing doping concentration. We have also observed that the red shift in the two-photon fluorescence peak of the samples in the solid form is much larger than that in the solution state. This phenomenon could be explained by a twisted intra-molecular charge transfer model.     

Characterization of LSGM films obtained by electrophoretic deposition (EPD)

The application of the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique to the preparation of high quality electrolyte films for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs) was investigated. Films of La_0.83Sr_0.17Ga_0.83Mg_0.17O_2.83 (LSGM) were deposited on Pt and La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ (LSM) substrates from suspensions in acetone/ethanol (3:1 by volume) mixture solvent and sintered at 1300 °C. Pt supported LSGM films, 10–20 μm thick, exhibited good adhesion to the Pt substrate, well-distributed microporosity and some surface roughness. LSM supported films exhibited cracking after sintering at 1300 °C for 3 h. Up to 900 °C the bulk conductivity of the Pt supported LSGM film showed the same behaviour of LSGM pellet (E_a = 0.93 eV and 0.99 eV, respectively). The LSGM film exhibited lower bulk electrical conductivity than the latter (4.1 × 10^− 3 and 4.4 × 10^− 2 Ω^− 1 cm^− 1, respectively, at 700 °C). This difference should be ascribed to the slight Ga depletion in the LSGM film. An important issue remains the selection of adequate electrode for LSGM electrolyte films.     

Reduction of thin-film ceria on Pt(111) by supported Pd nanoparticles probed with resonant photoemission

Local defects present in CeO_2 ? x films result in a mixture of Ce³⁺ and Ce⁴⁺ oxidation states. Previous studies of the Ce 3d region with XPS have shown that depositing metal nanoparticles on ceria films causes further reduction, with an increase in Ce³⁺ concentration. Here, we compare the use of XPS and resonant photoemission spectroscopy (RESPES) to estimate the concentration of Ce³⁺ and Ce⁴⁺ in CeO_2 ? x films grown on Pt (111), and the variation of this concentration as a function of Pd deposition. Due to the nature of the electronic structure of CeO_2 ? x, resonant peaks are observed for the 4d–4f transitions when the photon energy matches the resonant energy; (hν = 121.0 eV) for Ce³⁺ and (hν = 124.5 eV) for Ce⁴⁺. This results in two discrete resonant photoemission peaks in valence band spectra. The ratio of the difference of these peaks with off-resonance scans gives an indication of the relative contribution of Ce³⁺. Results from RESPES indicate reduction of CeO_2 ? x on deposition of Pd, confirming earlier findings from XPS studies.     

Sonochemical synthesis of two nanostructured silver(I) coordination polymers based on semi-rigid bis(benzimidazole) ligands

Nanoparticles of two silver(I) coordination polymers (CPs), [Ag₂(L1)₂(DCTP)]_n (1) and [Ag₂(L2)(DCTP)]_n (2) (L1 = 1,3-bis(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene, L2 = 1,4-bis(benzimidazol-1-yl)-2-butene, H₂DCTP = 2,5-dichloroterephthalic acid), were synthesized by the sonochemical approach and hydrothermal method. Both CPs were characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). CP 1 exhibits a 2D 4-connected sql net with the point symbol {4⁴.6²}. While CP 2 displays a 2D 3,4-connected 3,4L13 net with the point symbol {4.6²}₂{4².6².8²}. The structural diversity indicates that semi-rigid bis(benzimidazole) co-ligands play important roles in tuning the structures of the mixed Ag(I) CPs. The ultrasound irradiation time, temperature, and power showed significant effects on the morphology and growth process of the nanoparticles of two silver(I) CPs. The luminescence and photocatalytic properties of the nanoparticles of CPs 1–2 on the degradation of methyl blue (MB) were also investigated in detail.     

Nonlinear optical properties of silver colloidal solution by in situ synthesis technique

The silver colloidal solutions were prepared by in situ synthesis technique in the presence of the Polymethyl Methacrylate, which was polymerized by reversible addition-fragmentation transfer. The UV–VIS spectra and transmission electron microscopy had shown the formation of sphere silver nanoparticles with average size of 10 nm. Nonlinear optical properties as a function of silver concentration were studied using Z-scan technique with 13 ns pulse duration at 532 nm. The optical nonlinearity enhancement was observed by increasing the concentration. The third-order nonlinear susceptibility χ⁽³⁾ was measured to 1.045 × 10⁻¹¹ esu when the concentration was 2.13 mg/ml. Besides, the sample was founded to exhibit a shift from saturable absorption to reverse saturable absorption at higher incident laser energy. The reverse saturable absorption was observed to be responsible for the optical limiting characteristics in our experiments.     

Study on nonlinear optical absorption properties of [(CH3)4N]2[Cu(dmit)2] by Z-scan technique

The third-order optical nonlinearities of an organo-metallic compound, [(CH₃)₄N]₂[Cu(dmit)₂] (dmit²⁻=4,5-dithiolate-1,3-dithiole-2-thione), abbreviated as MeCu, dissolved in acetone are characterized by Z-scan technique with picosecond and nanosecond laser pulses in the near-infrared region. Two-photon absorption has been found when the sample solution is irradiated by 40 ps pulse width at 1064 nm and the two-photon absorption (TPA) coefficient β_TPA is 4×10⁻¹³ m/W. While excited by 15 ns laser pulses at 1053 nm, the Z-scan spectra reveal strong reverse saturable absorption (RSA) and the nonlinear absorption coefficient β_RSA is estimated to be as high as 7.07×10⁻¹¹ m/W which is much larger than β_TPA. An explanation for this enhancement is given. All the results suggest that MeCu may be a promising candidate for the application to optical limiting in the near-infrared region.     

Third-order optical nonlinearity of a novel material: [(C<Subscript>4</Subscript>H<Subscript>9</Subscript>)<Subscript>4</Subscript>N][Co(dmit)<Subscript>2</Subscript>]

A novel dmit organometallic complex—[(C₄H₉)₄N][Co(dmit)₂] (dmit^2? = 4,5-dithiolate-1,3-dithiole-2-thione), abbreviated as BuCo, is synthesized and its third-order optical nonlinearity of the acetone solution is characterized using the Z-scan technique with a 40-ps pulse width at 1064 nm. Z-scan curves show that BuCo sample solution possesses the negative nonlinear refraction, exhibiting a self-defocusing effect. In addition, the two-photon absorption has been observed in BuCo. The effective molecular second-order hyperpolarizability γ_eff of the BuCo molecule was estimated to be as large as 5.60 × 10^?31 esu, suggesting BuCo is a potential material for optical device applications.     

In situ characterization of transport properties of superconducting (Cu, C)-system thin films

Transport properties of (Cu, C)Ba₂CuO_x [(Cu, C)-1201] thin films have been characterized by in situ temperature dependence of resistivity, without breaking vacuum from the deposition to the measurement. In in situ transport properties measurements, the obtained results reveal that (Cu, C)Ba₂CuO_x films exhibit T_c > 20 K on the cased of conductivity at 290 K (σ_[290 K]) > 4 × 10² S/cm and temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR) > 1.5 × 10^?3 K^?1, and doping level of them should be in between under-doped and optimally-doped states. Their results suggest that there would be possible to further increases of T_c, and XPS data suggest that (Cu, C)-system should have the excellent dopability in their charge reservoir and the possibility of low anisotropy.     

A Boubaker polynomials expansion scheme (BPES)-related protocol for measuring sprayed thin films thermal characteristics

Measurements of In₂S₃ and ZnIn₂S₄ sprayed thin films thermal characteristics have been carried out using the photodetection technique. The thermal conductivity k and diffusivity D were obtained using a new protocol based on photothermal signal parameters analysis. Measured values of k and D were respectively, (15.2 ± 0.85) W m⁻¹K⁻¹ and (69.8 ± 7.1) × 10⁻⁶ m²s⁻¹ for In₂S₃, (7.2 ± 0.7) W m⁻¹K⁻¹ and (32.7 ± 4.3) × 10⁻⁶ m²s⁻¹ for ZnIn₂S₄. These values are extremely important since similar compounds are more and more proposed as Cd-free alternative materials for solar cells buffer layers.     

Influence of thickness and annealing on linear and nonlinear optical properties of manganese (III) chloride tetraphenyl porphine (MnTPPCl) organic thin films

Thin films of manganese (III) chloride 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21H,23H-porphine (MnTPPCl) with different film thickness were deposited by an evaporation technique. Some optical constants were calculated for these films at a thickness of 110, 220 and 330 nm and annealing temperature of 373 and 437 K. IR spectrum demonstrating that the thermal evaporation method is a good one to acquire undissociated and stoichiometric MnTPPCl films. Our perceptions demonstrate that the mechanism of the optical absorption obeys with the indirect transition. It was found that the energy gap, E_g, affected by the film thickness and annealing. Dispersion of the refractive index is described using single oscillator model. Dispersion parameters are calculated as a function of the film thickness and annealing temperature. In addition, the third-order nonlinear susceptibility, χ⁽³⁾, and the nonlinear refractive index, n₂, were calculated.     

Transparent CdO/n-GaN(0001) heterojunction for optoelectronic applications

Undoped CdO films were prepared by sol–gel method. Transparent heterojunction diodes were fabricated by depositing n-type CdO films on the n-type GaN (0001) substrate. Current–voltage (I–V) measurements of the device were evaluated, and the results indicated a non-ideal rectifying characteristic with I_F/I_R value as high as 1.17×10³ at 2 V, low leakage current of 4.88×10⁻⁶ A and a turn-on voltage of about 0.7 V. From the optical data, the optical band gaps for the CdO film and GaN were calculated to be 2.30 eV and 3.309 eV, respectively. It is evaluated that interband transition in the film is provided by the direct allowed transition. The n-GaN (0001)/CdO heterojunction device has an optical transmission of 50–70% from 500 nm to 800 nm wavelength range.     

Effect of processing temperature on the superconducting properties of acetone doped MgB2 tapes

Correlation of phase formation, critical transition temperature T_c, microstructure, and critical current density J_c with sintering temperature has been studied for acetone doped MgB₂/Fe tapes. Sintering was performed at 600–850 °C for 1 h in a flowing Ar atmosphere. High boron substitution by carbon was obtained with increasing the sintering temperature; however, the acetone doped samples synthesized at 800 °C contain large size MgB₂ grains and more MgO impurities. Incomplete reaction for the acetone doped samples heated at 600 °C result in bad intergrain connectivity. At 4.2 K, the best J_c value was achieved in the acetone doped sample sintered at 700 °C, which reached 24,000 A/cm² at 10 T and 10,000 A/cm² at 12 T, respectively. Our results indicate that the small grain size and less impurity were also important for the improvement of J_c–B properties besides the substitutions of B by C.