Nonlinear optical properties of pulsed laser deposited Gd2O3 and Dy2O3 doped K0.5Na0.5NbO3 thin films

We report the structural and nonlinear optical properties of Gd2O3 and Dy2O3 doped (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3 (KNN) lead-free thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition technique. The crystal structure of the films was analyzed by using Rietveld method. The higher tetragonality and improved surface morphology was observed for the rare-earth oxide doped films. The change in crystal structure and tetragonality with these dopants was explained in terms of change in the internal vibration modes of NbO6 octahedra. The nonlinear optical properties of the films were measured by using single beam Z-scan technique with a continuous wave He-Ne laser (λ = 632.8 nm). All the films have shown a large third-order nonlinear susceptibility and observed to be enhanced for rare-earth doped KNN thin films (|χ(3)| = 2.69 × 10−3 esu). The maximum nonlinear refractive index, n2 = 2.02 × 10−5 cm2/W, and nonlinear absorption coefficient, β = 3.48 cm/W, were obtained for Gd2O3, and Dy2O3 doped films respectively. These results indicate that rare-earth doped KNN thin films are potential candidates for nonlinear photonic applications.