Optical Nonlinearities in Glasses

The field of photonics has been the target of constant innovations based on a deep knowledge of the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of materials and especially on information/data technologies. This chapter compiles some of the main physical aspects needed to understand NLO responses, especially in glasses. Any deviation from the linear correlation between a material’s polarization response and the electric component of an applied electromagnetic field is an example of nonlinear optic behavior. Heavy metal oxide and chalcogenide glasses offer the largest nonlinear response. For example, high refractive index and high dispersion glasses fall in the type of non-resonant devices, while the resonant ones comprise metal nanoparticle doped glasses. Metal nanoparticles’ doped glasses can be pre- pared by the sol-gel method. The optical absorption spectrum of Ag-doped silica glass shows the presence of an absorption band of surface Plasmon Resonance due to Ag nanoparticles at 420 nm and Z-scan has been used to study the NLO properties. This chapter contains a brief discussion of the basic principles of nonlinear optics, the review of the nonlinear optical of glass in general, and two separate sections concerning the nonlinear optical effects in the glasses doped with quantum dots and metals, respectively.