Third-order optical nonlinearity at 800 and 1300 nm in bismuthate glasses doped with silver nanoparticles

Large and ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearities in Ag-doped bismuthate glasses which are prepared by incorporating Ag ions into bismuthate glasses to form Ag nanoparticles through a consecutive melting-quenching-annealing technique are reported. Due to the high refractive index of bismuthate glass, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Ag nanoparticles is extendable to 1400 nm, resulting in a higher nonlinear refractive index than bismuthate glass. Femtosecond Z-scans show that the nonlinear refractive index, as high as 9.4 × 10(-17) and 5.6 × 10(-18) m(2) W(-1) at 800 and 1300 nm, respectively, can be achieved by selecting an optimized concentration of Ag nano-sized particles. And two-photon absorption at 800 nm is suppressed due to a blue shift in the band-gap of Ag-doped bismuthate glasses, as compared to pristine bismuthate glasses. Optical Kerr shutter technique reveals that these nonlinearities have a relaxation time of < 1 ps.