Abstract

There are materials which their nonlinear refractive index (n₂) have contributions from fast isotropic and slow reorientational effects. Due to the presence of the slow noninstantaneous effect, the magnitude of the effective nonlinear refractive index (n₂,_eff) depends of the pulse width (τ). Here, we propose to measured the n₂,_eff of several organic solvents as a function of pulse width and from these data extract information about the fast and the slow nonlinearities, including magnitudes and response times (τ₀). We have used an accurate and single beam nonlinear ellipse rotation (NER) measurement to measure the third-order nonlinear susceptibility, B=6χ1221 [1,2], which is proportional to n₂. The NER signal is a nonlinear refractive effect, which is observed when an intense elliptical polarized beam propagates through a medium.

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