Inorganic: Organic hybrid nanocomposites for photorefractivity at communication wavelengths

This paper reports new photorefractive polymeric nanocomposites photosensitized with HgS or PbS nanocrystals and operating at the communication wavelength of 1.3 μm. To our knowledge, it is the first report of a polymeric photorefractive medium with spectral response at a communication wavelength. The nanocomposites involving HgS are prepared by an in-situ nanochemistry approach, whereas those involving PbS were prepared using competitive nanochemistry. Photoconductivity experiments were employed in the characterization of photocharge generation quantum efficiency provided by the semiconductor nanocrystals. The photorefractive nature of the composites is confirmed using electric field dependent two-beam coupling. In the case of nanocomposite containing PbS nanocrystals, a net gain in excess of the associated absorption loss is observed.