Nonlinear optical properties of nanosized rare-earth-doped strontium barium niobate ceramics

Nanosized, undoped and rare-earth-doped Sr_0.5Ba _0.5Nb₂O₆ (SBN) ceramic systems were synthesized by an aqueous organic gel route. The precursor gel on calcinations at 800°C for 2hr produces undoped and rare-earth-doped SBN systems of pure tungsten bronze lattice structure. These systems have been characterized for their structure by XRD, SEM, and TEM. The nonlinear absorption behavior of the undoped and rare-earth-doped SBN ceramic systems was investigated by use of the open-aperture Z-scan technique using 532nm, 5ns laser pulses. The authors found that these materials are potential optical limiters at this excitation wavelength.