Atomically thin chalcogenide films are promising 2D materials (topological insulators) with narrow band gaps. The previous investigations of our group demonstrate the impressive third-order optical nonlinearities associated with such materials [1]. In this study, we focus on achieving sub-wavelength focal beam sizes for super-resolved nano-structuring by exploiting the giant saturable absorption of Bi2Se3 thin films.

The Chalcogenide films were fabricated through e-beam deposition, and the optical nonlinearities associated with the films were studied using Z-Scan Technique. A significant nonlinear saturable absorption has been observed of the order of 10^-7 m/W. A versatile and cost-effective tool for super-resolved direct laser structuring has been proposed in this study by utilizing chalcogenide thin films.