Retrieving nonlinear refractive index of nanocomposites using finite-difference time-domain simulations

In this Letter, a method is proposed that utilizes three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations of light propagation for restoring the effective Kerr nonlinearity of nanocomposite media. In this approach, a dependence of the phase shift of the transmitted light on the input irradiance is exploited. The reconstructed values of the real parts of the nonlinear refractive index of a structure of randomly arranged spheres are in good agreement with the predictions of the effective medium approximations.