Nonlinear Optical Properties of ZnO Thin Film at Low Laser Intensity Using Z-Scan Technique

In this work, a highly sensitive well-known z-scan technique was employed to study the nonlinear optical properties of Zinc Oxide thin films as a function of low laser fluencies. The transmissions of the continues-wave red laser diode with wavelength of (650 nm) were measured from the ZnO thin film sample with thickness of (425 nm). The thin film used in this study was deposited on the glass substrates based on atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) technique. The measurements were obtained at low laser powers ranging from (1.9-2.5) mW. The results indicated that the nonlinear absorption coefficient, refractive index and the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility increase with increasing the laser intensity. The obtained curves of the closed aperture showed a positive sign of the nonlinear refractive index which in turn attributed to the self-defocusing of the material. The optical parameters obtained in this work are relatively comparable with that obtained elsewhere. The results also confirm the reliability of the z-scan approach even at low laser intensities.