Preparation and third-order optical nonlinearity of glass ceramics based on GeS2–Ga2S3–CsCl pseudo-ternary system

Chalcohalide glass-ceramics based on GeS2–Ga2S3–CsCl pseudo-ternary system were prepared by heat treatment method. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope studies confirmed the formations of Ga2S3 and GeS2 phase grains with sizes of 2–5 and 80 nm, respectively. Z-scan technology was employed to investigate the third-order nonlinear optical characteristics of both precursor glass and its glass ceramics at 800 nm. The results show that nonlinear refractive index n2 as well as nonlinear absorption coefficient β increase after heat treatment, which is due to quantum effects, and the largest n2 of the glass ceramics is 4.3 × 10− 11 esu which is 4 times larger than that of the host.

Research Highlights
► Ga2S3 and GsS2 phase granis with sizes of 2–5 and 80 nm respectively, were formated in GeS2–Ga2S3–CsCl chalcohalide glasses by heat treatment method.
► The Z-scan technology was used to investigate the third-order nonlinear optical characteristics.
► The largest nonlinear refractive index n2 is about 4.3×10−11 esu which is 4 times larger than that of the glass host.