Wavelength interdependence assessment of all-optical switching in zinc borate glasses

Abstract

Lithium tungsten borate photonic glass is prepared by the conventional melt-quench technique. Due to semiconductor-like behavior of zinc oxide, the glass is doped by ZnO to adapt its optical nonlinearity. Fresnel-based spectrophotometric measurements and Lorentz dispersion theory are applied to study (in a very wide range of photon energy from 0.5 to 6.2 eV) the dispersion of second-order refractive index, two-photon absorption coefficient, and third-order optical susceptibility of the glass. The figure of merit (FOM) needed for optical switching applications is estimated. We reveal the importance of determining the dispersion of the optical nonlinear parameters to find out the appropriate operating wavelength for optimum FOM of the glass. © 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).