Optical nonlinearities of C84 fullerenes

The third-order nonlinear optical response of fullerene C84 (isomeric mixture as obtained from fullerenic soot) and its isomer C84–D2d (II) dissolved in toluene were studied using nanosecond and picosecond laser pulses employing the Z-scan and the Optical-Kerr-effect techniques. The nonlinear absorption and refraction parameters and the corresponding second hyperpolarizability γ were determined, while the origins of the observed nonlinear optical response are discussed.