Measurement Of The Excited-State Molecular Polarizability Of C60

We use ∼30 ps pulses at 532 nm to measure the complex excited-state molecular polarizability αe in a C60/benzene solution. We determine the imaginary part of αe by measuring the excited-state absorption cross-section in a pump-probe experiment. In a degenerate-four-wave-mixing (DFWM) experiment, we find that in delayed probing of the complex index gratings formed by ∼30 ps pulses, the thermal and the excited-state polarizability changes both contribute to these transient gratings.