ZnO-PVA nanocomposite films for low threshold optical limiting applications

Journal Article · Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4898305· OSTI ID:22308044

Viswanath, Varsha; Beenakumari, C.; Muneera, C. I. ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Trivandrum-695581, Kerala (India)

Zinc oxide-PVA nanocomposite films were fabricated adopting a simple method based on solution-casting, incorporating small weight percentages (<1.2 wt%) of ZnO in PVA (∼0.625×10{sup −3}M to 7×10{sup −3}M), and their structure, morphology, linear and low threshold nonlinear optical properties were investigated. The films were characterized as nanostructured ZnO encapsulated between the molecules/chains of the semicrystalline host polymer PVA. The samples exhibited low threshold nonlinear absorption and negative nonlinear refraction, as studied using the Z-scan technique. A switchover from SA to RSA was observed as the concentration of ZnO was increased. The optical limiting of 632.8 nm CW laser light displayed by these nanocomposite films is also demonstrated. The estimated values of the effective coefficients of nonlinear absorption, nonlinear refraction and third-order nonlinear susceptibility, |χ{sup (3)}|, compared to those reported for continuous wave laser light excitation, measure up to the highest among them. The results show that the ZnO-PVA nanocomposite films have great potential applications in future optical and photonic devices.

• OSTI ID: 22308044
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1620, Issue 1; Conference: Optics 14: International conference on optics: Light and its interactions with matter, Calicut, Kerala (India), 19-21 Mar 2014; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
CONCENTRATION RATIO
EXCITATION
MOLECULES
MORPHOLOGY
NANOSTRUCTURES
NONLINEAR OPTICS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PVA
REFRACTION
VISIBLE RADIATION
ZINC OXIDES