Third-order nonlinear optical responses in derivatives of phenylhydrazone by Z-scan and optical limiting studies-influence of noble metal nanoparticles

•The third-order NLO responses new phenylhydrazone derivatives were studied.•Metal nanoparticles were prepared by laser ablation technique.•Metal nanoparticles are promising additive to enhance NLO properties.•The materials show well optical limiting properties at 532 nm.•These compounds are a promising class of materials for the photonic applications.

Here we report a study on the third-order nonlinear optical properties of a new class of phenylhydrazones and the influence of silver and gold metal nanoparticles on their nonlinear response. Metal nanoparticles were prepared by laser ablation method. Single beam Z-scan technique with a 7 ns, 10 Hz Nd: YAG laser pulses at 532 nm were employed for the measurements. The compounds exhibit well optical limiting properties. Hence, these compounds are a promising class of materials for the optical device applications.