Microscopic Z-Scan for Measuring Nonlinear Absorption of Mechanically Exfoliated Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers

The Z-scan technique is commonly used to measure optical nonlinearities of bulk crystals and solutions. By scanning a sample through the focal region of a Gaussian beam and tracking the size and intensity of the transmitted spot, it is possible to retrieve both the Kerr nonlinear refractive index and the nonlinear absorption coefficient of the sample [1]. This enables a higher precision and faster measurement than previously employed methods.