Optical limiting in polystyrene embedded nanocrystals

In this work, we demonstrate the functionality of optical limiting obtained with CdTe nanocrystals embedded in polystyrene. This functionality relies on our experimentally observed large, saturable, and controlled nonlinear optical properties of CdTe nanocrystals with sizes around 2 nm, at laser wavelength of 532 nm. Our investigation is presenting an experimental proof of concept. The limiting threshold occurs at an average laser power of 10 mW. For laser beam diameter of 1 mm, the threshold intensity for this optical limiting device is ~ 1 W/cm².