We have recently developed a spectral re-shaping technique to simultaneously measure nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption. In this technique, the information about the nonlinearities is encoded in the frequency domain, rather than in the spatial domain as in the conventional Z-scan method. Here we show that frequency encoding is much more robust with respect to scattering. We com...

We present simple modifications of the classic Z-scan technique for the investigations of nonlinear chiroptical effects, i.e. nonlinear circular birefringence and two-photon circular dichroism. Two methods for studying these effects: a "polarimetric Z-scan" and a "polarization modulated Zscan" are described in detail. These techniques were applied to estimate the order of magnitude of the effec...

We report a simplified Z-scan technique based on a study on the symmetric features of a typical Z-scan curve. The contributions from the two-photon absorption (TPA) and the nonlinear refraction (NLR) are easily separated from a closed-aperture Z-scan curve using this method. And the determination of the two nonlinearities is simplified and unambiguous. We demonstrate this method on ZnSe, CdS, a...

Poly (ether) urethane close/open cell (PEUCC/PEUOC) has been prepared by using in situ polymerization approach. The third-order optical nonlinearities of dissolved samples in DMF were characterized by Z-scan technique at the measurement wavelength of 532 nm. The synthesized samples were also examined by optical microscopy and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The nonlinear refractive (NLR) indice...