Thermo-optic nonlinearity of the laser dye LDS 867 under low power CW laser excitation

Thermally induced optical nonlinearity of the laser dye LDS 867 is studied in ethanol solution using the self phase modulation and closed aperture z-scan techniques, employing a continuous wave low power He-Ne laser beam for excitation. The nonlinear optical (NLO) coefficients are obtained by analyzing the z-scan curve on the basis of the thermal lens model. The dye exhibits a negative thermal nonlinearity which can be inferred from the occurrence of a pre-focal peak followed by a post-focal valley in the z-scan. The large nonlinear refractive index (n₂) measured at the excitation wavelength of 633nm reveals that the material is NLO active even at low excitation powers of less than 1 mW. Results indicate that LDS 867 is a promising material for optical power limiting applications.