Femtosecond carrier dynamics and saturable absorption in graphene suspensions

Abstract

Nonlinear optical properties and carrier relaxation dynamics in graphene, suspended in three different solvents, are investigated using femtosecond (80 fs pulses) Z-scan and degenerate pump-probe spectroscopy at 790 nm. The results demonstrate saturable absorption property of graphene with a nonlinear absorption coefficient, β of (∼2–9)×10−8 cm/W. Two distinct time scales associated with the relaxation of photoexcited carriers, a fast one in the range of 130–330 fs (related to carrier-carrier scattering) followed by a slower one in 3.5–4.9 ps range (associated with carrier-phonon scattering) are observed.