Laser Synthesis of Nanocomposite Cu:Al2O3 thin Films for Nonlinear Optical Switching

Metal nanocrystals embedded in dielectric matrices have been the subject of intense research during the last few years as promising candidates for all-optical switching applications. However, the lack of suitable techniques to produce these materials in waveguide configuration has hindered the use of nanocomposites in technological applications. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a recently developed thin film technique that offers a new way to obtain and control the size and shape of the nanocrystals, thus introducing new possibilities to engineer the nonlinear optical parameters of the material. This work reports on the production of Cu nanocrystals embedded in amorphous Al2O3 matrix with a large nonlinear refractive index and a significantly reduced nonlinear absorption. The influence of the metal content and the measuring conditions on the nonlinear response of the nanocomposite films has been also analysed.