Third-order nonlinear optical responses of colloidal Ag nanoparticles dispersed in BMI.BF4 ionic liquid

Abstract

The third-order nonlinear optical responses of tetrafluoroborate 1-n-butyl-methylimidazolium (BMI.BF4) and colloidal Ag nanoparticles dispersed in this medium were investigated. Hybrid organic-metallic colloids consisting of silver nanoparticles dispersed in BMI.BF4 were synthesized. Using the thermally managed Z-scan technique, the electronic contribution to the nonlinear refractive indexes of the BMI.BF4 and colloids with two different nanoparticles filling factors were measured, as well as the media's nonlinear absorption. The performance of these systems for all-optical switching was also evaluated. The obtained results indicate that these are promising candidates for the development of nonlinear optical applications.