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Nonlinearity management of photonic composites and observation of spatial-modulation instability due to quintic nonlinearity

We present a procedure for nonlinearity management of metal-dielectric composites. Varying the volume fraction occupied by silver nanoparticles suspended in acetone we could cancel the refractive index related to the third-order susceptibility, $χ_{eff}^{(3)}$, and the nonlinear refraction behavior was due to the fifth-order susceptibility, $χ_{eff}^{(5)}$. Hence, in a cross-phase modulation experiment, we demonstrated for the first time the effect of spatial-modulation- instability due to $χ_{eff}^{(5)}$. The results are corroborated with numerical calculations based on a generalized Maxwell-Garnet model.