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Carrier concentration dependence of optical Kerr nonlinearity in indium tin oxide films

Hendry Izaac Elim·Wei Ji·Furong Zhu
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Abstract

Optical Kerr nonlinearity (n2) in n-type indium tin oxide (ITO) films coated on glass substrates has been measured using Z-scans with 200-fs laser pulses at wavelengths ranging from 720 to 780 nm. The magnitudes of the measured nonlinearity in the ITO films were found to be dependent on the carrier concentration with a maximum n2-value of 4.1 x 10-5 cm2/GW at 720-nm wavelength and an electron density of Nd = 5.8 x 1020 cm-3. The Kerr nonlinearity was also observed to be varied with the laser wavelength. By employing a femtosecond time-resolved optical Kerr effect (OKE) technique, the relaxation time of OKE in the ITO films is determined to be ~1 ps. These findings suggest that the Kerr nonlinearity in ITO can be tailored by controlling the carrier concentration, which should be highly desirable in optoelectronic devices for ultrafast all-optical switching.

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Hendry Izaac Elim, Wei Ji, Furong Zhu. 2006-04-28. Carrier concentration dependence of optical Kerr nonlinearity in indium tin oxide films. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-005-2079-8

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