Measurement setup for the determination of the nonlinear refractive index of thin films with high nonlinearity

摘要

The exploitation of nonlinear effects in multi-layer thin films allows for optics with novel functions, such as all- opticalswitching and frequency conversion. In this contribution, an improved interferometric setup for the measurement of thenonlinear refractive index in dielectric substrates and deposited single layers is presented. The setup is based on the wavefront deformation caused by the self-focusing in the measured samples. Additionally, measurement results for a highlynonlinear material, indium-tin-oxide (ITO) are presented with respect to the materials power handling capabilities andcompared to values from other materials.