Nonlinear optical absorption of nanocomposite films made from polymers and single-walled carbon nanotubes: The effect of nanotube type and polymer matrix

Nonlinear optical absorption at a wavelength of 1080 nm for nanocomposite thin films made from polymers and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was studied by the longitudinal scanning (z-scan) technique. Two SWNT types differing in the synthesis procedure (HipCO and arc evaporation techniques) were used for the preparation of nanocomposites based on the polymers carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVAL). The nonlinear absorption coefficients were measured to be ?5.0 × 10^?7 and ?3.9 × 10^?7 cm/W for the CMC-SWNT/HipCO and CMC-SWNT/Arc composite films and ?1.7 × 10^?7 and ?0.9 × 10^?7 cm/W for the PVAL-SWNT/HipCO and PVAL-SWNT/Arc films, respectively. It was found that the film nanocomposites based on carboxymethylcellulose had a higher absolute value of the nonlinear absorption coefficient than the films in which PVAL was used as the polymer matrix.