Third-order nonlinear optical characteristics of Er3+-doped BaMoO4 nanostructures

We report the third order nonlinear optical properties of Er3+- doped BaMoO4 nanostructures, and its dependence on Er-dopant concentration. BaMoO4 nanostructures with different concentration of Er were synthesized by chemical precipitation method and were characterized by UV-Vis absorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fluorescence measurements. The incorporation of Er ions shifted the absorption band of BaMoO4 towards higher wavelength and enhanced the light absorption in the visible region. XRD patterns showed that the powders crystallize in scheelitetype tetragonal structure. The nonlinear optical behavior of the nanostructures was investigated by a Z-scan technique at 532 nm using continuous wave Nd:YAG laser. Experimental results suggested that the addition of Er can considerably enhance the nonlinear absorption coefficient and refractive index of BaMoO4 which could be used as a potential for nonlinear optical device applications.