Nonlinear transmittance and optical power limiting in magnesium ferrite nanoparticles: effects of laser pulsewidth and particle size

We report comparative measurements of size dependent nonlinear transmission and optical power limiting in nanocrystalline magnesium ferrite (MgFe₂O₄) particles excited by short (nanosecond) and ultrashort (femtosecond) laser pulses. A standard sol-gel technique is employed to synthesize particles in the size range of 10-50 nm, using polyvinyl alcohol as the chelating agent. The structure and morphology of the samples are studied using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Growth of the particles in time is tracked through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Nonlinear transmission measurements have been carried out using the open aperture Z-scan technique employing 532 nm, 5 nanosecond pulses and 800 nm, 100 femtosecond pulses, respectively. The measured optical nonlinearity is primarily of a reverse saturable absorption (RSA) nature, arising mostly from excited state absorption for nanosecond excitation, and two-photon absorption for femtosecond excitation. The optical limiting efficiency is found to increase with particle size for both cases. The calculated nonlinear parameters indicate that these materials are potential candidates for optical limiting applications.