Third-order optical nonlinearities of exfoliated Bi2Te3 nanoparticle films in UV, visible and near-infrared ranges measured by tunable femtosecond pulses

Abstract

We characterize the nonlinear optical properties of synthesized Bi2Te3 nanoparticle-contained thin films using the tunable femtosecond laser in the spectral range of 400–1000 nm. These nanoparticles possess a strong saturable absorption and positive nonlinear refraction (−6.8×10−5 cm W−1 in the case of 500 nm, 150 fs probe pulses, and 3×10−10 cm2 W−1 in the case of 400 nm, 150 fs probe pulses, respectively). The spectral, intensity, and temporal variation of saturable absorption and nonlinear refraction of the thin films containing exfoliated Bi2Te3 nanoparticles are discussed.