Observation of interband two-photon absorption saturation in CdS nanocrystals

We report the observation of interband two-photon absorption (TPA) saturation in cadmium sulfide nanocrystals (CdS NCs) under intense femtosecond laser excitation with 1.6 eV photon energy. The observation has been compared to interband TPA saturation in bulk CdS under the same experimental conditions. By using both Z-scan techniques and transient absorption measurements, the saturation intensity has been determined to be 190 GW/cm2 for CdS NCs of 4-nm diameter, which is 2 orders of magnitude greater than that for CdS bulk crystal. The results are in agreement with an inhomogeneously broadened, saturated TPA model.