Third-order nonlinearity in Ge–Sb–Se glasses at mid-infrared wavelengths

Liyan Chen (1) , Feifei Chen (1) , Shixun Dai (1) , Guangming Tao (2) , Lihe Yan (3) , Xiang Shen (1) , Hongli Ma (4) , Xianghua Zhang (4) , Yinsheng Xu (1)

1 Laboratory of Infrared Material and Devices
2 CREOL - Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers
3 Xjtu - Xi'an Jiaotong University
4 ISCR - Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes

The optical properties of Ge–Sb–Se glasses have been extensively studied at telecom wavelengths in recent years. However, the understanding of nonlinearity in Ge–Sb–Se glasses at mid-infrared wavelengths still remains limited. In this work, a series of Ge20SbxSe80−x (x = 0, 5, 10) glasses were prepared by conventional melt–quenching method. The absorption spectra and the refractive index of glasses were recorded. The third order nonlinearity, n2, and nonlinear absorption coefficient were measured for Ge–Sb–Se glass samples at the wavelengths of 1550, 2000 and 2500 nm by Z-scan technique, respectively. With the increasing of Sb contents, the linear refractive index of glass increased. Among the three operating wavelengths, all the three glass samples have a highest n2 at 2000 nm. By using the figure of merit (FOM) to evaluate the studied three glasses, the Ge20Sb10Se70 glass shows the greatest potential for mid-IR all optical switching devices

Keywords: Chalcogenide; Glass; Nonlinear Optics; Optical materials

Domains: Chemical Sciences

Liyan Chen, Feifei Chen, Shixun Dai, Guangming Tao, Lihe Yan, et al.. Third-order nonlinearity in Ge–Sb–Se glasses at mid-infrared wavelengths. Materials Research Bulletin, 2015, 70, pp.204--208. ⟨10.1016/j.materresbull.2015.04.048⟩. ⟨hal-01231154⟩