Nonlinear Optical Properties of ZnO Nanorods Prepared by Using the Electro-deposition Method

We studied the nonlinear optical properties of ZnO nanorods. ZnO nanorods were deposited by using the electro-deposition method, and these samples were annealed at a temperature of 400 degrees C for 5 hours. The nonlinear absorption properties of ZnO nanorods with two different rod diameters of 500 run and 100 run were measured by using the femtosecond nonlinear transmission method at an incident wavelength of 800 nm. The nonlinear absorption coefficients of ZnO nanorods were 5.9 x 10(-7) cm/W and 2.3 x 10(-7) cm/W for rod diameters of 500 nm and 100 nm, respectively, and these nonlinear absorption coefficients were about 100 times larger than those already reported for ZnO thin films. The enhanced nonlinear absorption in ZnO nanorods was due to the combination of the two-photon absorption and optical confinement.