Ultrafast non-resonant third-order optical nonlinearity of GeS2–Ga2S3–CdS chalcogenide glass

Ultrafast third-order nonlinear optical responses of 4(1−x)/5GeS2-(1−x)/5Ga2S3-xCdS (x=0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 in mol%) chalcogenide glasses was investigated by using the femtosecond time-resolved optical Kerr effect technique at a wavelength of 800 nm. The largest third-order nonlinear susceptibility of all samples was estimated to be 1.65×10−13 esu. An ultrafast nonlinear response time of about 250 fs was observed, which was dominantly assigned to the ultrafast distortion of the electron cloud under femtosecond laser excitation. A nonlinear relationship between the third-order nonlinear susceptibility and the introduced amount of CdS was discussed, suggesting a possible disturbance between different polarizable bonds in the glass system.