Analysis of key properties for optical power limiting and the influence of nonlinear scattering

In this paper, we propose ways to study the optical limiting behavior of dissolved nanoparticles. We want to present two different approaches. First, we identify the key properties responsible for the critical fluence threshold using a principal component analysis. For metallic nanoparticles, we found that the real part of the complex dielectric function must have a negative value as low as possible, while the imaginary part must be close to zero. Additionally, the solvent should have a low refractive index as well as a low absorption. Furthermore, nonlinear scattering seems to be an important limiting mechanism for nanoparticle limiters. Here, we present a thermal finite element model to predict the temporal evolution of the temperature profile in the nanoparticles and their vicinity. The temperature profile leads to vapor bubbles around the nanoparticles and Mie theory is used to calculate the induced scattering. We demonstrate the functionality of the model by simulating an Au-nanoparticle in an ethanol solution.