We quantitatively investigate the third-order optical nonlinear response of Co-doped ZnO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering using the Z-scan method. The two-photon absorption and optical Kerr effect are revealed to contribute to the third-order nonlinear response of the Co-doped ZnO films. The nonlinear absorption coefficient 𝛽 is determined to be approximately 8.8 × 10 −5 cm/W and the third-order nonlinear susceptibility 𝜒 (3) is 2.93 × 10 −6 esu. The defect-associated energy levels within the band gap are suggested to be responsible for the enhanced nonlinear response observed in Co-doped ZnO films.

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of water-soluble Cu2-xSe nanocrystals are studied in the near infrared range of 700–980 nm using a femtosecond pulsed laser by the Z-scan technique. It is observed that the nonlinear optical response of Cu2-xSe nanocrystals is sensitively dependent on the excitation wavelength and exhibits the enhanced nonlinearity compared with other selenides such as ZnSe and CdSe. The W-shaped Z-scan trace, a mixture of the reversed saturated absorption and saturated absorption, is observed near the plasmon resonance band of Cu2-xSe nanocrystals, which is attributed to the state-filling of free carriers generated by copper vacancies (self-doping effect) of Cu2-xSe nanocrystals as well as the hot carrier thermal effect upon intense femtosecond laser excitation. The large nonlinear optical response and tunable plasmonic band make Cu2-xSe nanocrystals promising materials for applications in ultra-fast all-optical switching devices as well as nonlinear nanosensors.