Abstract

The thermal contribution to the nonlinear refractive index of air at $1.064 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ was measured with a high-finesse Fabry–Perot cavity and a 500-mW cw laser beam. At room temperature and pressure, the nonlinear refractive-index coefficient of air was found to be $n_2{}^{\left(\mathrm{th}\right)}=\left(-1.9\pm 0.2\right)\times {10}^{-14} {\mathrm{cm}}^2/\mathrm{W}$ for a beam waist radius of 0.23 mm and was found to be independent of the relative humidity. The thermal nonlinearities of ${\mathrm{N}}_2$, ${\mathrm{O}}_2$, and ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ were also measured, and it was found that the dominant contribution to air is its ${\mathrm{O}}_2$ content.

© 2000 Optical Society of America

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