Investigating the influence of ITO thin film thickness on the optical Kerr nonlinearity using ultrashort laser pulses
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2022
Abstract
In this paper, we present results from the measurements of the optical Kerr nonlinearity of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films of different thicknesses using the femtosecond (fs) Z-scan technique. ITO thin films were prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on a glass substrate at room temperature. The coated ITO thin films were subsequently characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. Using similar to 100 fs pulses at 80 MHz repetition rate, the optical Kerr nonlinearity in ITO with different thicknesses was investigated at different excitation wavelengths and incident pulse energies. The optical Kerr nonlinearity was found to be dependent on excitation wavelength, incident power, and ITO thickness, with a maximum value of similar to 9 x 10(-12) cm(2)/W at a wavelength of 820 nm, power of 1 W, and 170 nm ITO thickness. These results suggest that Kerr nonlinearity in ITO can be tailored by varying the film thickness, which would be ideal for ultrafast all-optical switching in future optoelectronic devices. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group
Keywords
Science and Technology Development Fund, Engineering uncontrolled terms, Engineering main heading
Divisions
photonics
Funders
Science and Technology Development Fund
Publication Title
Journal of the optical society of america b-optical physics
Volume
39
Issue
5
Publisher
Optica Publishing Group
Publisher Location
2010 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036 USA