Nonlinear absorption and refraction of binary and ternary alkaline and alkaline earth silicate glasses

Nonlinear optical properties such as the nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption are characterized by z-scan measurements for a series of silicate glasses upon irradiation with laser pulses of 130 fs duration and 800 nm center wavelength. The stoichiometry of the silicate glasses is varied systematically to reveal the influence of the glass composition on the nonlinear optical properties. Additionally, the thermal properties such as glasstransformation temperature and thermal expansion coefficient are obtained from dilatometric measurements. It is found that the nonlinear refractive index is mainly related to the silica matrix. The nonlinear absorption is increased with the addition of networkforming ions.