Third-Order Nonlinear Optical, Optical Power Limiting, and All-Optical Switching Studies on Palladium Complexes

The authors report the third-order nonlinear optical properties of two palladium complexes in solution and film form using nanosecond Z-scan technique at 532nm. The nonlinear refractive index n(2) of the investigated complexes is found to be negative. Both complexes exhibit strong reverse saturation absorption and show good optical power limiting of nanosecond pulses. Also the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility of the complexes was determined using degenerate four-wave mixing technique. The variations of nonlinear response on donor and acceptor type of units present in the complexes are studied. The all-optical switching phenomenon was also demonstrated by using nanosecond pump-probe technique.