The nonlinear refractive index dependence on the incident light polarization state has been studied for pure chloroform and chloroform solutions of aminobenziliden-1,3-indandione derivatives. Measurements were done with linearly, elliptically, and circularly polarized light using 8 ns and 30 ps pulse duration 1064 nm lasers. This allows us to separate the electronic response, molecular reorientation, and thermo-optical components of the nonlinear refractive index. The refractive index variations with the change of laser pulse repetition rate were employed to identify the presence of the thermo-optical effect. Quantum chemical calculations of linear polarizability were used to estimate the magnitude of molecular-reorientation-induced refractive index changes for solvents and solutions. Overall, in this paper we have outlined various essential aspects that need to be taken into account to correctly interpret Z-scan measurement results for organic solvents and solutions.

We report measurements of the saturated intensities, saturable absorption, and nonlinear refraction in 70-nm thick films containing 4 nm HgTe quantum dots. We demonstrate strong nonlinear refraction and saturable absorption in the thin films using tunable picosecond and femtosecond pulses. Studies were carried out using tunable laser pulses in the range of 400–1100 nm. A significant variation of the nonlinear refraction along this spectral range was demonstrated. The maximal values of the nonlinear absorption coefficients and nonlinear refractive indices determined within the studied wavelength range were −2.4 × 10⁻⁵ cm² W⁻¹ (in the case of 28 ps, 700 nm probe pulses) and −3 × 10⁻⁹ cm² W⁻¹ (in the case of 28 ps, 400 nm probe pulses), respectively. Our studies show that HgTe quantum dots can be used in different fields e.g., as efficient emitters of high-order harmonics of ultrashort laser pulses or as laser mode-lockers.

A promising phenomenon such as lossy-mode resonance (LMR) is of great interest in sensor applications. Until now, this phenomenon has been shown only in fibers or planar waveguides; however, given the rapid development of such an important technological area as photonic integrated circuits (PICs), it is important to transfer LMR technology specifically to PICs. In this article, we propose the theoretical development of an integrated polymer-based LMR sensor that will also contribute to the development of hybrid organic–inorganic PICs. This work theoretically shows that LMR can be achieved using polymer SU-8 waveguides on a glass substrate, on top of which TiO₂ is deposited. In addition, the paper shows that multiple resonances can be achieved in the developed integrated sensor. The highest sensor sensitivity (about 1400 nm/RIU) was achieved with 40 nm of TiO₂. The effect of the waveguide and coating geometries, as well as the polarizations of propagating modes, is studied in this paper.