| In today's telecommunication networks industry, the need for faster components has brought a wide-open race for the search of suitable third-order nonlinear materials that will allow all-optical control and processing of the light information. We present in this work an extensive study of the Kerr third-order nonlinear coefficients of a promising polymer-based organic azobenzene dye: DR1-PMMA side-chain. By using the Z-scan measurement technique, and a broadly-tunable laser source, we measured for the first time, over the broad spectral range of 600 nm–1600 nm, the nonlinear index of refraction (n2), the two-photon absorption coefficient (β), and the associated figures of Merit W' and T for both a solution, and a bulk sample of DR1-PMMA.; Furthermore, due to their respective particular interest in nonlinear optical studies related to organic polymer materials, we have also explored, under the same experimental conditions as for DRl-PMMA, the n2, β, as well as the figure of Merit W' and T for the neat liquids CS2, CHCl3, and for the borosilicate glass BK7. |
