Mixed two- and three-photon absorption in bulk rutile (TiO2) around 800 nm

We observe mixed two- and three-photon absorption in bulk rutile (TiO2) around 800 nm using the open aperture Z-scan technique. We fit the data with an extended model that includes multiphoton absorption, beam quality, and ellipticity. The extracted two-and three-photon absorption coefficients are below 1 mm/GW and 2 mm(3)/GW(2), respectively. We observe negligible two-photon absorption for 813-nm light polarized along the extraordinary axis. We measure the nonlinear index of refraction and obtain two-photon nonlinear figures of merit greater than 1.1 at 774 nm and greater than 12 at 813 nm. Similarly, we obtain three-photon figures of merit that allow operational intensities up to 0.57 GW/mm(2). We conclude that rutile is a promising material for all-optical switching applications around 800 nm. (C)2012 Optical Society of America