Enhanced nonlinear absorption of Au nanoparticles embedded into Nd:YAG crystal towards saturable absorber application

摘要

We fabricated Au nanoparticles (NPs) embedded into Nd:YAG crystal by Au ion single or Zn and Au ion sequential implantation together with 900 degrees C annealing. The Au NPs induced by pre-implantation of Zn ion exhibit larger and more uniform size, higher volume fraction, narrower spatial distribution and stronger surface plasmon resonance absorption. Moreover, excellent nonlinear optical properties have been shown with lower saturable intensity of similar to 6.7 GW cm(-2), larger nonlinear absorption coefficient of similar to 1.2 x 10(-4) cm W-1 and higher modulation depth of 81%. Our findings provide a valuable route for the development of Au-based saturable absorbers. (C) 2019 The Japan Society of Applied Physics