Linear and nonlinear optical behavior of palladium nanoparticle reinforced fluoropolymer composites

The linear and nonlinear optical properties of palladium nanoparticle reinforced fluorinated ethylene polymer matrix nanocomposite were investigated in this work. Synthesized through decomposition of a palladium organometallic chemical species in the bulk of fluorinated polymer films, the composites consisted of discrete, palladium nanoparticles distributed throughout the polymer matrix. The low-intensity reflectivities were measured as a function of palladium content and compared to behavior predicted using the Tourquato–Kreibig–Fresnel (TKF) theory. Optical limiting experiments using 8 ns duration laser pulses at 1064 nm yielded a 90% reduction in transmissivity with pulse fluences of nearly 1.3 × 104 mJ/cm2.