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Z-scan characterization of optical nonlinearities of an imperfect sample profits from radially polarized beams

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Abstract

We present the Z-scan technique using azimuthal-variant vector beams for characterizing the nonlinear refractive index of an isotropic nonlinear medium. Compared with the conventional Z-scan measurements, the reliability of the vector beam Z-scan is improved because the focused azimuthal-variant vector beam exhibits a uniform-intensity focal ring instead of a focal spot. Experimentally, our investigation demonstrates that the Z-scan using radially polarized beams is a preferable technique for characterizing the optical nonlinearity of an imperfect sample.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11174160 and 11474052) and the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2015CB352002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Photonics Center, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China

    Bing Gu, Dahui Liu, Jia-Lu Wu & Yiping Cui

  2. School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha, 410012, China

    Jun He

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  1. Bing Gu
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  2. Dahui Liu
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  3. Jia-Lu Wu
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  4. Jun He
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  5. Yiping Cui
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Correspondence to Bing Gu or Yiping Cui.

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Gu, B., Liu, D., Wu, JL. et al. Z-scan characterization of optical nonlinearities of an imperfect sample profits from radially polarized beams. Appl. Phys. B 117, 1141–1147 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-014-5937-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-014-5937-4

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