Optical limiting properties and z-scan measurements of carbon disulfide at 205 μm wavelength

Nonlinear and optical limiting properties of carbon disulfide (CS2) are characterized at 2.05 μm wavelength using a Q-switched Ho:YLF laser with high pulse energy. The nonlinear refractive index of CS2 is measured using the z-scan technique, giving a value of (1.9±0.5)·10−18 m2/W, i.e., (7.2±1.9)·10−12 esu, for the 25 ns pulses from the Ho:YLF laser. Self-focusing and dielectric breakdown in CS2 limited the output energy to 0.6 mJ in the optical limiting experiments for input energies of up to 150 mJ.