Abstract
A new and efficient technique for measuring weak optical nonlinearities is reported. Like Z scan, its implementation is basic, both experimentally and theoretically, but leads to an improved sensitivity of , which represents, to date, one of the highest observed enhancements. With this technique, which is based upon the use of a position sensitive detector, nonlinear properties are deduced by monitoring the barycentric position of a truncated pump–probe laser beam as the sample is moved along the optical axis. The technique is experimentally validated by measuring the pump-induced refractive index change and the underlying polarizability variation resulting from the excitation of the ions in ruby.
© 2011 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Zhi-Bo Liu, Shuo Shi, Xiao-Qing Yan, Wen-Yuan Zhou, and Jian-Guo Tian
Opt. Lett. 36(11) 2086-2088 (2011)
M. Sheik-Bahae, J. Wang, R. DeSalvo, D. J. Hagan, and E. W. Van Stryland
Opt. Lett. 17(4) 258-260 (1992)
Han Zhang, Stéphane Virally, Qiaoliang Bao, Loh Kian Ping, Serge Massar, Nicolas Godbout, and Pascal Kockaert
Opt. Lett. 37(11) 1856-1858 (2012)