Nonlinear response and optical limiting in SrBi(2)Ta(2)O(9) thin films

Nonlinear Optical Materials for the Smart Filtering of Optical Radiation

The control of luminous radiation has extremely important implications for modern and future technologies as well as in medicine. In this Review, we detail chemical structures and their relevant photophysical features for various groups of materials, including organic dyes such as metalloporphyrins and metallophthalocyanines (and derivatives), other common organic materials, mixed metal complexes and clusters, fullerenes, dendrimeric nanocomposites, polymeric materials (organic and/or inorganic), inorganic semiconductors, and other nanoscopic materials, utilized or potentially useful for the realization of devices able to filter in a smart way an external radiation. The concept of smart is referred to the characteristic of those materials that are capable to filter the radiation in a dynamic way without the need of an ancillary system for the activation of the required transmission change. In particular, this Review gives emphasis to the nonlinear optical properties of photoactive materials for the function of optical power limiting. All known mechanisms of optical limiting have been analyzed and discussed for the different types of materials.

Modeling of Z-scan characteristics for one-dimensional nonlinear photonic bandgap materials

We propose a Z-scan theory for one-dimensional nonlinear photonic bandgap materials. The Z-scan characteristics for this material are analyzed. Results show that the Z-scan curves for photonic bandgap materials with nonlinear refraction are similar to those of uniform materials exhibiting both nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption simultaneously. Effects of nonlinear absorption on reflected and transmitted Z-scan results are also discussed.

Large nonlinear optical response of polycrystalline Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 ferroelectric thin films on quartz substrates

We measure the nonlinear susceptibility of Bi(3.25)La(0.75)Ti(3)O(12) (BLT) thin films grown on quartz substrates using the Z-scan technique with picosecond laser pulses at a wavelength of 532 nm. The third-order nonlinear refractive index coefficient gamma and absorption coefficient beta of the BLT thin film are 3.1 x 10(-10) cm(2)/W and 3 x 10(-5) cm/W, respectively, which are much larger than those of most ferroelectric films. The results show that the BLT thin films on quartz substrates are good candidate materials for applications in nonlinear optical devices.