Nonlinear optical properties of zinc oxide doped bismuth thin films using Z-scan technique

•Thin films of ZnO doped with different Bi concentration are deposed.•Structural and nonlinear optical properties of thin films were investigated.•The NLO properties are investigated using the Z scan technique at 532 nm.

ZnO doped Bi thin films were grown on glass substrates by spray ultrasonic technique. This paper presents the effect of Bi doping concentration on structural and nonlinear optical properties of zinc oxide thin films. These thin films were characterized by X-ray diffractometer technique. XRD analysis revealed that the ZnO:Bi thin films indicated good preferential orientation along c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. The nonlinear optical properties such as nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) and third order nonlinear susceptibility (Imχ(3)) are investigated. The calculations have been performed with a Z scan technique using Nd:YAG laser emitting 532 nm. The reverse saturable absorption (RSA) mechanism was responsible for the optical limiting effect. The results suggest that this material considered as a promising candidate for future optical device applications.