Third order nonlinearity and optical limiting behaviors of Yb:YAG nanoparticles by Z-scan technique

Abstract The present report explores third order nonlinear optical behavior of phase pure Yb 3+ :YAG nanoparticles for the first time by Z-scan technique. The measurement was carried out using diode pumped continuous wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm. The Yb:YAG nanoparticles exhibit characteristic near-infrared (NIR) emission at 1030 nm under 940 nm excitation. The nanoparticles exhibit high nonlinear refractive index (n 2  = 8.649 × 10 −8  cm 2 /W) and low nonlinear absorption coefficient (β = 0.109 × 10 −4  cm/W) giving an appreciable figure of merit (FOM) of ∼74.50. The excitation power (8.2–10.5 W cm −2 ) dependent emission spectra were recorded to study exchange energy interaction of Yb 3+ ions with YAG host lattice. By utilizing the nonlinear refractive index ‘n 2 ’ from Z-scan measurement, thermo-optic coefficient (dn/dt) was calculated to demonstrate Yb 3+ :YAG nanomaterial for high power compact solid state laser gain amplifier systems.