Title
Simple And Sensitive Technique For Determining Refractive Nonlinearities
Abstract
A simple, highly sensitive method is proposed for studying nonlinear refraction in materials. In a tight-focus lighting geometry, the transmission of a nonlinear medium through a finite aperture in the far field as a function of the sample position z, measured with respect to the focal plane, is measured at a fixed input energy. Such a trace, referred to as a z-scan , contains information on the sign, magnitude, and order of nonlinearity. By controlling the aperture diameter, refractive nonlinearities can be distinguished from absorptive ones. Such z-scans have been performed on a number of materials using IR (10-μm) and visible (532-nm) laser pulses. For example, thermal self-defocusing was observed in CS2 using 50-300-ns CO2 laser pulses, whereas self-defocusing due to the reorientational Kerr effect was dominant using 100-ps pulses at the same wavelength. The z-scan technique has also been used to analyze and optimize optical power and fluence-limiting devices that operate on nonlinear refraction.
Publication Date
12-1-1989
Publication Title
CONFERENCE ON LASERS AND ELECTRO-0PTICS
Number of Pages
278-279
Document Type
Article; Proceedings Paper
Personal Identifier
scopus
Copyright Status
Unknown
Socpus ID
0024898474 (Scopus)
Source API URL
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0024898474
STARS Citation
Sheik-Bahae, M.; Said, A. A.; and Wu, Y. Y., "Simple And Sensitive Technique For Determining Refractive Nonlinearities" (1989). Scopus Export 1980s. 405.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/scopus1980/405