Abstract

Understanding the nonlinear optical effect of novel materials plays a crucial role in the fields of photonics and optoelectronics. Herein, we theoretically and experimentally investigate the simultaneous presence of third-order locally refractive nonlinearity and thermally induced nonlocal nonlinearity saturation. We present analytical expressions for the closed-aperture Z-scan trace and the number of spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM) rings, which allows one to unambiguously and conveniently separate the contributions of local and nonlocal nonlinear refraction in the case that both effects occur simultaneously. As a test, we study both the local and thermally induced nonlocal nonlinear refraction in fullerene/toluene solution by performing continuous-wave Z-scan and SSPM measurements at two different wavelengths. This work enriches the understanding of the physical mechanism of the optical nonlinear refraction effect in solution dispersions of nanomaterials, which can be exploited for nonlinear photonic devices.

© 2019 Chinese Laser Press

Z-scan theory for nonlocal nonlinear media with simultaneous nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption

Mohammad Reza Rashidian Vaziri
Appl. Opt. 52(20) 4843-4848 (2013)

Direct observation of the transient thermal-lensing effect using the phase-object Z-scan technique

Junyi Yang and Yinglin Song
Opt. Lett. 34(2) 157-159 (2009)

Third order nonlinear optics in Ag nanocubes: local and nonlocal optical responses as a function of excitation wavelength and particle size

E. V. García Ramírez, S. A. Sabinas Hernández, D. Ramírez Martínez, G. Díaz, and J. A. Reyes Esqueda
Opt. Express 25(25) 31064-31076 (2017)

Nonlocal nonlinear refraction in Hibiscus Sabdariffa with large phase shifts

D. Ramírez-Martínez, E. Alvarado-Méndez, M. Trejo-Durán, and M. A. Vázquez-Guevara
Opt. Express 22(21) 25161-25170 (2014)

Theory of Gaussian beam Z scan with simultaneous third- and fifth-order nonlinear refraction based on a Gaussian decomposition method

Bing Gu, Jing Chen, Ya-Xian Fan, Jianping Ding, and Hui-Tian Wang
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 22(12) 2651-2659 (2005)