Multi-walled carbon nanotubes for all-optical switching

Wei Ji; Hendry I. Elim

doi:10.1117/12.689181

10 October 2006 Multiwalled carbon nanotubes for all-optical switching

Wei Ji, Hendry I. Elim

Proceedings Volume 6352, Optoelectronic Materials and Devices; 635220 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.689181
Event: Asia-Pacific Optical Communications, 2006, Gwangju, South Korea

Abstract

Recently, ultrafast nonlinear optical responses of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in suspensions and in films have been investigated intensively. Transient photobleaching has been observed with femtosecond laser pulses at photon energies of 0.8 ~ 1.1 eV (wavelengths = 1100 ~ 1550 nm), resonant with the lowest interband transitions of semiconducting SWCNTs. Here, we report both absorptive and refractive nonlinearities in a film of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) grown mainly along the direction perpendicular to the surface of quartz substrate. Such MWCNT films are prepared by a method of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. By employing Z-scans with 180-fs laser pulses at wavelengths ranging from 720 to 1550 nm, we have observed that both absorptive and refractive nonlinearities are of negative. More importantly, the degenerate pump-probe measurement reveals an ultrafast recovery time of ~ 1 ps. In addition, we also present a demonstration that the ultrafast nonlinear optical properties can be manipulated by a hybrid system in which MWCNTs are coated with ZnO nanoparticles. At wavelengths of interest, it is known that ZnO possesses three-photon (or four-photon) absorption, which is of positive sign and can be used to balance off the negative nonlinearity of MWCNTs.

Citation Download Citation

Wei Ji and Hendry I. Elim "Multiwalled carbon nanotubes for all-optical switching", Proc. SPIE 6352, Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, 635220 (10 October 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.689181

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