Optical nonlinearities of fullerenes and their implications in optoelectronics

The nonlinear optical response of fullerene solutions is examined as a function of the incident radiation pulse duration and intensity. Using the z-scan technique, the nonlinear absorption and the nonlinear refraction are studied for 10 nsec, 532 nm and 0.5 psec, 497 nm laser pulses. The corresponding nonlinear parameters are determined and their intensity dependence is shown to be the indicative parameter for the understanding of the origin of the observed nonlinearity. Possible applications of the nonlinear optical properties of fullerenes in optoelectronics are proposed.