The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of semiconductor nanomaterials have a significant role in opto-electronic devices. In this review, recent results on the NLO of semiconductor materials (including zinc sulphide, Indium Oxide, birnessite-type manganese oxide, GaAs doped with Bismuth and ZnO doped with transition metals) have been discussed. Z-scan has been used to study the nonlinear optical properties of these materials. The NLO properties and the optical limiting for different laser sources either pulsed or continuous are studied experimentally.