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Observations of transient nonlinear optical polarization effects on reflection from opaque media

Observations of transient nonlinear optical polarization effects on reflection from opaque media
Observations of transient nonlinear optical polarization effects on reflection from opaque media

A time-resolved infrared polarimeter based on a femtosecond Cr:Forsterite laser was built. An angular sensitivity better than 10-6 radians combined with temporal resolution exceeding 100fs has been achieved. The instrument was used in a wide range of experiments for the study of transient dynamics of optical responses in semiconducting and metallic samples.

The infrared degenerate cubic optical nonlinearity was measured for the first time in bulk metallic gold using the pump-probe Specular Inverse Faraday Effect technique. The nonlinearity was found to have a considerable magnitude of ~10-8esu and was exceptionally fast, showing a relaxation time faster than 100fs. The nonlinear response was attributed predominantly to the spin flipping nonlinearity of free carriers.

The infrared degenerate cubic optical nonlinearity in metallic indium was also studied for the first time. In particular the temperature dependence of the nonlinear response was studied across the melting point. Considerable enhancement of the nonlinearity was seen in the vicinity of the melting point, where the magnitude reached a value of 6.3x10-7esu.

The pump-probe Specular Inverse Faraday Effect magnitude was measured in several semiconductor materials including GaAs and the semimagnetic semiconductor Cd0.6Mn0.4Te. A two-stage model for the spin related nonlinearity was developed based on a quasi-six-level electron band structure. The model was used to interpret the transient SIFE results in GaAs.

University of Southampton
Shatwell, Ian Richard
Shatwell, Ian Richard

Shatwell, Ian Richard (1998) Observations of transient nonlinear optical polarization effects on reflection from opaque media. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

A time-resolved infrared polarimeter based on a femtosecond Cr:Forsterite laser was built. An angular sensitivity better than 10-6 radians combined with temporal resolution exceeding 100fs has been achieved. The instrument was used in a wide range of experiments for the study of transient dynamics of optical responses in semiconducting and metallic samples.

The infrared degenerate cubic optical nonlinearity was measured for the first time in bulk metallic gold using the pump-probe Specular Inverse Faraday Effect technique. The nonlinearity was found to have a considerable magnitude of ~10-8esu and was exceptionally fast, showing a relaxation time faster than 100fs. The nonlinear response was attributed predominantly to the spin flipping nonlinearity of free carriers.

The infrared degenerate cubic optical nonlinearity in metallic indium was also studied for the first time. In particular the temperature dependence of the nonlinear response was studied across the melting point. Considerable enhancement of the nonlinearity was seen in the vicinity of the melting point, where the magnitude reached a value of 6.3x10-7esu.

The pump-probe Specular Inverse Faraday Effect magnitude was measured in several semiconductor materials including GaAs and the semimagnetic semiconductor Cd0.6Mn0.4Te. A two-stage model for the spin related nonlinearity was developed based on a quasi-six-level electron band structure. The model was used to interpret the transient SIFE results in GaAs.

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Published date: 1998

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 463335
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/463335
PURE UUID: d714cc96-b94e-4f5a-896f-8f3c2289e462

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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 20:50
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 20:50

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Contributors

Author: Ian Richard Shatwell

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