Dear colleagues,
As far as I know, reverse saturation absorption is one of the mechanisms of optical limiting effect. Because when the light intensity is strong, the absorption coefficient increases, that is, light is absorbed more strongly by third order nonlinear optics material. So when we illuminate the material, initially when the input power increases, the output power behind the material also increases. At certain threshold, the output power is saturated. However, I'm not sure whether nonlinear refraction (nonlinear index n2) is the mechanism that causes the optical limiting or not. The nonlinear refraction only cause the beam to diverge or converge, only changing the light intensity without changing the power.
So, the issue is: Is the nonlinear refraction one of mechanism that causes the optical limiting effect?
I am looking forward to hearing from you.