The understanding of light-matter interaction processes has been essential for the
attainment of many modern advancements in photonics, for instance the telecom revolution
with lasers and fiber optics. Thereby, related industries greatly benefit from large
availability of professionals, qualified for undertaking projects focused on devising
and scaling products that may capitalize scientific progress on photonic materials
and novel optical effects. Nevertheless, the familiarity with the application of these
phenomena is usually gained by scientists and engineers at graduate education level,
which commonly leads to a skilled workforce shortage. This lack of photonic-capable
engineers becomes more critical when discussing nonlinear and quantum applications
that will be broadly available soon. With this motivation, we present a nonlinear
photonics hands-on training that could be integrated into curricula for photonics
engineers or material scientists. The proposed session is aimed at undergraduate students,
who would develop through practical experience relevant multidisciplinary skills for
experimental design, data acquisition, setup configuration and optical alignment.
Manuals are provided for the implementation of Z-Scan technique in the characterization
of nonlinear optical materials. Equipment requirements are included along with the
undergraduate-level theoretical content that may serve as introduction for students
without prior exposure to nonlinear optics. Additionally, an open-source python-based
software is provided for simplifying the extraction of Kerr effect and two-photon
absorption figures of merit by means of the analysis of power measurements.
