Nonlinear refractive beam shaping by an organic nonlinear absorber

The response of organic dyes to laser pulses is typically described solely by nonlinear absorption. Recently, spatial profiles of a nanosecond pulse exiting an organic nonlinear absorber have shown energy redistribution from a Gaussian input profile to a central spike and outer ring. It was suggested that the spike and ring resulted from both nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction. In this letter, the role of a thermal nonlinear refraction in beam shaping is demonstrated using single and time-delayed double picosecond pulses. It is concluded that the dynamics of nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction must be included to correctly describe the laser-material interaction.