We extend the application of the Z-scan experimental technique to determine free-carrier nonlinearities in the presence of bound electronic refraction and two-photon absorption. We employ this method, using picosecond pulses in CdTe, GaAs, and ZnTe at 1.06 m and in ZnSe at 1.06 and 0.53 Am, to measure the refractive-index change induced by two-photon-excited free carriers (coefficient ar,), the two-photon absorption coefficient 1, and the bound electronic nonlinear refractive index n 2. The real and imaginary parts of the third-order susceptibility (i.e., n 2 and 13, respectively) are determined by Z scans with low inputs, and the refraction from carriers generated by two-photon absorption (an effecitve fifth-order nonlinearity) is determined from Z scans with higher input energies. We compare our experimental results with theoretical models and deduce that the three measured parameters are well predicted by simple two-band models. n 2 changes from positive to negative as the photon energy approaches the band edge, in accordance with a recent theory of the dispersion of n 2 in solids based on Kramers-Kronig transformations [

We introduce a temporal delay in one beam of the two-color Z-scan apparatus, which measures nondegenerate nonlinear absorption and nondegenerate nonlinear refraction. This technique allows us to time resolve separately the sign and the magnitude of the nonlinear absorption and refraction at frequency p that are due to the presence of a strong excitation at frequency oe. For example, in semiconductors we specifically measure the bound electronic, nondegenerate nonlinear refraction and nondegenerate two-photon absorption, as well as the two-photon-generated free-carrier refraction and absorption as functions of time. We demonstrate this technique on ZnSe, ZnS, and CS2, using picosecond pulses at 1.06 and 0.532 ,um.

A simple dual-wavelength (two-color) Z-scan geometry is demonstrated for measuring nonlinearities at frequency omega(p) owing to the presence of light at omega(e). This technique gives the nondegenerate two-photon absorption (2PA) coefficient beta(omega(p); omega(e)) and the nondegenerate nonlinear refractive index n(2)(omega(p); omega(e)), i.e., cross-phase modulation. We demonstrate this technique on CS(2) for n(2) and on ZnSe where 2PA and n(2) are present simultaneously.

We investigate, directly using magnetic force microscopy, the effect of magnetostatic interactions in arrays of Ni80Fe20 mesoscopic rings. The rings were fabricated on silicon substrate using deep ultraviolet lithography at 248 nm exposure wavelength. We observed that the transitions from onion-to-vortex and vortex-to-reverse onion magnetic states are strongly dependent on the edge-to-edge-spacing of the rings due to dipolar magnetostatic interaction. For a closely packed ring array, the transition from onion to vortex state occurs at a much lower field due to collective magnetic switching as compared with widely spaced rings. The remanent magnetic state is found to be very sensitive to the orientation of the applied field due to shape anisotropy.

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