Nonlinear optical properties of carboxymethyl starch nanocomposite by Z -scan technique using a Nd–YAG laser

In this paper, the third-order nonlinear optical properties of modified nanocomposite carboxymethyl starch are presented. The nanocomposite of carboxymethyl starch has been synthesized by a chemical technique. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to study its crystal structure. Linear optical response of this sample was studied by using UV–Visible spectroscopy. Nonlinear refraction and absorption coefficients of the nanocomposite were measured in two different solvents, dimethylformamide and N-methylpyrrolidone, by Z-scan method using a continuous wave Nd–YAG laser at 532 nm. The measured values of nonlinear refraction in both of the solutions were from the order of \(10^{-6}\,{\rm cm}^{2}/{\rm W}\).