Linear and nonlinear optical properties of Ag-As-Se chalcogenide glasses for all-optical switching.

We prepared Ag(x)(As0.4Se0.6)(100-x) chalcogenide glasses by a melt-quenching method and measured their linear and nonlinear optical properties to evaluate their potential applications to all-optical ultrafast switching devices. Their nonlinear refraction and absorption were measured by the Z-scan method at 1.05 microm. The addition of Ag to As2Se3 glass led to an increase in the nonlinear refractive index without introducing an increase in the nonlinear absorption coefficient. The glass with a Ag content of x = 20 at. % revealed high nonlinearity ranging from 2000 to 27,000 times that of fused silica, depending on the incident optical intensity.