Effect of radio frequency plasma treatment on the nonlinear refractive index and absorption coefficient of red lake doped polyvinyl chloride film.

Effect of plasma treatment on the nonlinear optical properties of red lake doped commercial polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film is studied employing different techniques. PVC films were exposed to low pressure plasma from 5 to 15 min. Nonlinearity measurement was performed using the second harmonic of a continuous Nd-YAG laser beam at 532 nm wavelength and 50 mW power. The optical limiting behavior of samples was investigated by measuring their transmission at different beam intensities. For all pristine and plasma treated samples optical limiting started at laser beam power of 12 mW. The nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption coefficient of plasma treated samples were measured using Z-scan method. Second order nonlinear refractive index of samples was measured to be in the range of $$10^{-8}\,\hbox {cm}^2/\hbox {W}$$ which was decreased after plasma treatment. Experimental results show that real and imaginary parts of nonlinear susceptibility are strongly influenced by plasma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]