Nonlinear refractive index of photo-thermo-refractive glass

Abstract Nonlinear properties of a photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass are studied and compared with those in fused silica and a conventional optical glass. PTR glass is a new photosensitive medium for high-efficiency phase volume hologram recording which manifests a linear refractive index modulation after exposure to UV radiation followed by thermal treatment. Nonlinear optical properties of PTR glass exposed to femtosecond laser pulses are studied. Diffraction patterns in a propagated laser beam focused in the sample were detected by a CCD, while a nonlinear refractive index was measured by a collinear-orthogonal-polarization-pump-probe (COP3) method. It was found that nonlinear refractive index of PTRG is n2 = 3.3 × 10−20 m2/W (0.33 ppm cm2/GW) which is about the same as for the fused silica. It is important that n2 in PTR glass does not vary after UV exposure and thermal development.