Dispersion of nonlinear refraction and two-photon absorption using a white-light continuum Z-scan

Abstract

We use a white-light continuum (WLC) Z-scan technique to measure the degenerate two-photon absorption spectrum and associated dispersion of the nonlinear refraction in ZnSe. The spectral components of the WLC source are separated by using a narrow band variable filter to minimize nondegenerate nonlinearities. We observe a change in sign of the ultrafast nonlinear refractive index around 0.7 of the bandgap energy as predicted by theory.