Large third-order optical nonlinearity of nanocluster-doped glass formed by ion implantation of copper and nickel in silica

Composite glasses containing different metal nanoclusters were obtained by implanting copper, nickel, or copper+nickel ions in SiO2 glass. The nonlinear refractive index of the composites was determined by the Z-scan method at a wavelength of 770 nm and with a laser pulse duration of 130 fs. Values of n2 up to 0.68 cm2 gW−1 were measured in the case of the Cu+Ni implanted sample.