Two-photon-absorption-induced accumulated thermal effect on femtosecond Z-scan experiments studied with time-resolved thermal-lens spectrometry and its simulation

Accumulated thermal effect (ATE), which can be an artifact in femtosecond closed-aperture Z-scan measurements, was investigated by varying the repetition rate of the incident pulse for a dye solution in CHCl3. It was found that the measurement is affected by two-photon-absorption-induced ATE, even at a low repetition rate of 1 kHz. The relaxation time of the ATE was found to be tens of milliseconds by time-resolved thermal-lens experiments and simulations, which is consistent with the observed repetition-rate dependence of the Z-scan measurements. The simulations for various commonly used solvents also exhibited that the ATE can be prominent in hydrocarbon and halogenated hydrocarbon solvents and inconspicuous in alcohols and water. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.