Saturable absorption optimization of silica protected thin Sb2Te3 layers towards super-resolution applications

Charles Moisset (1) , Antoine Bourgade (2) , Julien Lumeau (2) , Fabien Lemarchand (2) , Carine Perrin-Pellegrino (3) , Hassan Akhouayri (1) , Jean-Yves Natoli (1) , Konstantinos Iliopoulos (1)

1 ILM - ILM
2 RCMO - RCMO
3 IM2NP - Institut des Matériaux, de Microélectronique et des Nanosciences de Provence

Sb 2 Te 3 thin films are very promising candidates for nonlinear optics and several applications including super-resolution and nano-photoinscription. This work aims to offer a detailed study of the preparation of the thin films and their nonlinear optical properties under nanosecond laser excitation. Thin Sb 2 Te 3 films have been deposited by the electron beam deposition technique. The films have been protected by a thin silica layer, then annealed in order to enhance their nonlinearities by material crystallization. The annealing has been optimized by simultaneously recording the X-Ray diffraction diagrams. After this optimization, the annealing could be safely performed by heating in an oven. The nonlinear optical properties of the Sb 2 Te 3 thin films have been studied by means of the Z-scan technique employing 11 ns laser pulses at 1064 nm and 532 nm. High nonlinear absorption has been found showing the possibility to employ these materials for super-resolution, mode-locking and other applications.

Mots clés: Nonlinear optical response; Nonlinear absorption; Chalcogenides; Z-scan; Super-resolution

Domaines: Optique / photonique

Charles Moisset, Antoine Bourgade, Julien Lumeau, Fabien Lemarchand, Carine Perrin-Pellegrino, et al.. Saturable absorption optimization of silica protected thin Sb2Te3 layers towards super-resolution applications. Optical Materials, 2018, 86, pp.7-11. ⟨10.1016/j.optmat.2018.09.028⟩. ⟨hal-02066437⟩