Interferometric measurements of nonlinear refractive index in the infrared spectral range

Abstract

This study presents the development and application of interferometric technique for the measurement of nonlinear refractive index of optical materials, while directly accounting for experimentally determined laser pulse shape and beam profile. The method was employed in a systematic study of nonlinear refractive index on a series of common optical materials used in near and mid-IR spectral range, where experimental data on nonlinear material properties is still scarce. The values of nonlinear refractive index were determined at 1.03 µm, 2.2 µm, and 3.2 µm. The measurement results are compared to the values determined by previous studies (where available), and the influence of cascaded second-order nonlinearities is discussed.

Nonlinear refraction and absorption properties of optical materials for high-peak-power long-wave-infrared lasers

“…Consequently, this cohesive dataset stands as a potent resource for validating theoretical models in subsequent research endeavors. [25]; Bristow [26]; DeSalvo [27]; Ensley [23]; Flom [28]; Jansonas [29]; Hurlbut [30]; Lin [31]; Milam [32]; Patwardhan [33]; Pigeon [34]; Sheik-Bahae [35]; Werner [36].…”

“…8) Comparison of 𝑛 2 values obtained in this work at 9.2 µm with literature data for different wavelengths included in refractiveindex.info database. Data from following publications are used: Adair[25]; Bristow[26]; DeSalvo[27]; Ensley[23]; Flom[28]; Jansonas[29]; Hurlbut[30]; Lin[31]; Milam[32]; Patwardhan[33]; Pigeon[34]; Sheik-Bahae[35]; Werner[36].…”

All-Solid-State Post-Compression of Low Energy Pulses at High Repetition Rate

“…The experimental setup is depicted in Figure 1. The SPM-induced spectral broadening was performed in a two stage arrangement, combining sequential propagation of several highly nonlinear materials: ZnS (uncoated, 2 mm-thick, n 2 = 68 × 10 −16 cm 2 /W [24]), KGW (uncoated, 6 mm-thick, n 2 = 11 × 10 −16 cm 2 /W [25]) and YAG (uncoated, 15 mm-thick, n 2 = 6.13 × 10 −16 cm 2 /W [26]). In the first stage, the laser beam with a diameter of 1.6 mm (at the 1/e 2 intensity level) was focused using an anti-reflection (AR) coated lens L1 with a focal length of f = +150 mm onto 2 mm-thick ZnS crystal.…”

All-Solid-State Post-Compression of Low-Energy Pulses at High Repetition Rate

“…The experimental setup is depicted in Figure 1. The SPM-induced spectral broadening was performed in a two-stage arrangement that combined sequential propagation of several highly nonlinear materials: ZnS (uncoated, 2 mm thick, n 2 = 68 × 10 −16 cm 2 /W [30]), KGW (uncoated, 6 mm thick, n 2 = 11 × 10 −16 cm 2 /W [31]) and YAG (uncoated, 15 mm thick, n 2 = 6.13 × 10 −16 cm 2 /W [32]). Experimental setup for all-solid-state post-compression of low-energy pulses.…”