Measurements of Nonlinear Refractive Indices for Silica Glass Using Z-Scan Method

Abstract

Z-scan method is a simple and effective tool for determining the nonlinear properties. It has been used widely in material characterization because it provides not only the magnitudes of the real and imaginary parts of the nonlinear susceptibility, but also the sign of the real part. We demonstrated the measurements of nonlinear refractive indices for silica glass with near-infrared and ultraviolet pulses at different temperature. Additionally, effects of the self focusing to the laser-induced damage in silica glass were also considered.