Measuring lifetime and magnitude of the optical Kerr-effect in tailored bandgap materials

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During the first period of the project we had been able to get the first experimental evidence for a non-instantaneous response of the third-order polarization in dielectrics. We investigated the third harmonic generation using 6-fs pulses from an infrared oscillator. For systematic evaluation of the response time, we used ternary mixture oxides as nonlinear media with tunable bandgaps.For the follow-up period a new type of experiment is proposed, where the non-instantaneous lifetime of the optical Kerr effect is revealed via spectral interferometry. For that purpose, a new few-cycle source in the UV is used to induce the Kerr effect in thick ternary oxide layers with laser wavelengths in the vicinity of the materials bandgap. The measurements are backed up with solutions of the delayed nonlinear propagation equation.