A pump-and-probe method for the characterization of nonlinear material parameters within Fabry-Pérot microcavities

We present a pump-and-probe method based on optical Fabry-Pérot resonators that allows the characterization of third-order nonlinear materials relevant for all-optical technologies. The experiments show particular nonlinear optical resonator dynamics, which we analyze by numerical simulations. We highlight the pros and cons of our method compared with existing nonlinear material-characterization methods. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.