Pump-probe experiments at 1064 nm in singlewall carbon nanotube suspensions

Singlewall carbon nanotube (SWNT) suspensions have been shown to be good op tical limiters mainly because of their nonlinear scattering properties. In this paper, we report on a pump-probe experiment coupled with emission meas urements for SWNT's in two solvents (water and chloroform). Time-resolved p robe transmission with a pump at 1064 nm and a CW probe at 633 nm permits o ne to associate optical limiting with the formation of bubbles in the solve nt, sublimation of the particles, and cavitation effects at high fluences, We show that the optical limiting behavior of SWNT's for nanosecond pulse d uration is better in chloroform than in water due to different thermodynami c properties of the solvents.