Photoinduced Reorientation Process and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Ag Nanoparticle Doped Azo Polymer Films

Azobenzene polymer films doped with and without Ag nanoparticles are prepared. The photoinduced reorientation process is investigated by using an Nd:YVO₄ pump beam at 532 nm and a low semiconductor laser beam at 650 nm. The reorientation rate of azo polymer films is enhanced in the presence of Ag nanoparticles, and the rate of the azo polymer film with Ag concentration of 2.2 μg/ml is larger than that of the azo polymer films with Ag concentrations of 1.1 μg/ml and 4.4 μg/ml. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of the Ag/azo composite film are obtained by the Z-scan technique at a wavelength of 532 nm, and the measured nonlinear refractive index is 9.258×10^-9 esu. It is shown that the main mechanisms involved in the large nonlinear optical responses come from the local field enhancement of Ag nanoparticles and the nonlinear effect of the azo polymer matrix.