Abstract

We are investigating the nonlinear optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles immersed in various host materials. Changes in the permittivity of the nanoparticles under large irradiances are measured in pump-probe experiments. A two-temperature model is used to fit the data and obtain a correlation between the electron gas and lattice temperatures and the Drude-type electron damping of the metal. The enhanced two-photon absorption (2PA) of silver nanospheres suspended in carbon disulfide (CS₂) is measured by Z-Scan. The sample showed a combined signal of 2PA and saturable absorption (SA) which can be decoupled using the temperature-electron-damping mapping.

© 2011 Optical Society of America