Measurement of nonlinear optical coefficients by the z-scan technique: Correctness of the technique and investigation of a new compound-lutetium diphthalocyanine complex

Correctness of z-scan measurements of nonlinear refractive indices for optical media is considered. It is shown that accuracy of these measurements is greatly affected by the thickness of the nonlinear medium layer (as compared with the diffraction length of the laser beam). Nonlinear refractive indices of nitrobenzene are measured at different laser pulse durations (7 ns and 350 ps); the nonlinearity mechanism is discussed. It is shown that at the pulse duration 350 ps the orientation mechanism of nonlinearity is less effective than at the pulse duration 7 ns due to its time lag. Nonlinear refractive indices are measured for the solution of a new synthesized compound-hexadecabutyl-substituted lutetium diphthalocyanine.