Defects related emission and nanosecond optical power limiting in CuS quantum dots

Abstract

We report optical and nonlinear optical properties of CuS quantum dots and nanoparticles prepared through a nontoxic, green, one-pot synthesis method. The presence of surface states and defects in the quantum dots are evident from the luminescent behavior and enhanced nonlinear optical properties measured using the open aperture Z-scan, employing 5 ns laser pulses at 532 nm. The quantum dots exhibit large effective third order nonlinear optical coefficients with a relatively lower optical limiting threshold of 2.3 J cm−2, and the optical nonlinearity arises largely from absorption saturation and excited state absorption. Results suggest that these materials are potential candidates for designing efficient optical l