Synthesis of TiO2-ZnO-ZrO2 nanocomposites for nonlinear optics applications

A sol-gel technique under ultrasonic irradiation was applied to synthesize ZrO2/TiO2/ZnO nanocomposites. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the successful synthesis of nanocomposites. The strain and crystalline size values of ZrO2/TiO2/ZnO nanocomposites are estimated to be 9.98 × 10-4 and 17.66 nm, respectively. The linear absorption coefficient of ZrO2/TiO2/ZnO nanocomposites was measured 2.48 cm-1 by placing the sample at the focal point of the laser beam, varying the incident power, and recording the output power. The measurements of nonlinear optical absorption of ZrO2/TiO2/ZnO nanocomposites have been performed using a continuous-wave Nd: YAG laser operating at 532 nm by the open aperture Z-scan technique. The nonlinear absorption coefficient, β of ZrO2/TiO2/ZnO nanocomposites was obtained of the order of 10-5 cm∕W. The results suggest that ZrO2/TiO2/ZnO nanocomposites with a strong nonlinear optical absorption response can be a very promising nonlinear medium that can open a new avenue to the semiconductor-based nonlinear optics.