Nonlinear optical properties and photoinduced anisotropy of an azobenzene ionic liquid-crystalline polymer

The nonlinear optical properties and photoinduced anisotropy of an azobenzene ionic liquid-crystalline polymer were investigated. The single beam Z-scan measurement showed the polymer film possessed a value of nonlinear refractive index n₂ = −1.07 × 10⁻⁹ cm²/W under a picosecond 532 nm excitation. Photoinduced anisotropy in the polymer was studied through dichroism and photoinduced birefringence. A photoinduced birefringence value Δn ∼ 10⁻² was achieved in the polymer film. The mechanism for the nonlinear optical response and the physical process of photoinduced anisotropy in the polymer were discussed.     

Nonlinear optical properties of an azobenzene polymer

The nonlinear optical properties of an azobenzene polymer azol2-MO were investigated by a Z-scan technique. The polymer was synthesized by assembling the liquid-crystalline polymer azol2 with methyl orange. The nonlinear refrac- tive index （1.39×10^-15 cm2/W） and the nonlinear absorption coefficient （0.11 cm/GW） of azol2-MO were determined with 532-nm picosecond laser pulses at the irradiance of 92.40 GW/cm2. When compared to the nonlinear properties of azol2 and methyl orange, azol2-MO possesses the advantages of its two constituents and shows larger nonlinear optical properties.     

Incoherent-to-coherent optical conversion by means of azobenzene liquid-crystalline films

Received: 20 July 1998/Revised version: 21 September 1998     

Nonlinear optical properties of stilbene and azobenzene derivatives containing azaphosphane groups

We have studied the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of some donor–acceptor molecules with stilbene and azobenzene molecules as backbone. We have used the nitro group as the acceptor and azaphosphane (R₃P=N–) as the donor group. To study the effect of variation of NLO properties, we have replaced the substituents (Rs) connected to the phosphorus atom by methyl, amine and phenyl groups. We find that both first-order polarizability and hyperpolarizabilities are larger for stilbene derivatives and is maximum for the phenyl substitution. Second-order polarizability is higher for methyl substitution. We have also obtained the two-photon absorption cross-section for these molecules. We find that both one-photon and two-photon absorption cross-sections are maximum for the same excited state (first excited state in the case of stilbene and second excited state in the case of azobenzene derivatives).     

Nonlinear optical properties of nanometer-size silver composite azobenzene containing polydiacetylene film

Diacetylene monomer containing p-nitrophenyl azobenzene moiety (NADA) was synthesized. Silver nanoparticles with different concentrations were adulterated in the above polymerized NADA (PNADA) films and the third-order nonlinear optical properties were investigated in detail. UV–vis spectra and transmission electron microscopy were used to confirm the formation of PNADA/Ag nanocomposite films. The silver nanoparticles (average size of 10 nm) were well dispersed in the polymer films. The value of the nonlinear refractive index n ₂ for PNADA films (8.48×10⁻¹⁵ cm²/W) was much higher than that of pure polydiacetylene films. Further, the introduction of silver nanoparticles into the PNADA polymer films led to the further enhancement of nonlinear optical properties. The maximum value of n ₂ for PNADA/Ag nanocomposite films could be 11.6×10⁻¹⁵ cm²/W. This enhancement should be ascribed to the surface plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles.     

Nonlinear optical properties of polyaniline composite materials

The nonlinear optical properties of polyaniline composite materials (PANI/Au) were studied using the single-beam Z-scan technique.     

Nonlinear optical properties of polymer-dispersed liquid-crystalline systems based on fullerene-doped 2-cyclooctylamino-5-nitropyridine

Holographic recording of thin diffraction gratings by nano-and picosecond laser pulses λ=532 nm) is studied in polymerdispersed liquid-crystalline structures based on photosensitive molecules of 2-cycloocty-lamino-5-nitropyridine sensitized with C₇₀ fullerene. Using experimental data, nonlinear refraction n ₂ and nonlinear third-order susceptibility χ⁽³⁾ are calculated for the first time. The obained values determine the potential of the studied media for the modulation and frequency generation of laser radiation in the visible spectral range.     

Nonlinear optical propagation and self-limiting effect in liquid-crystalline fibers

The nonlinear optical properties of the isotropic phase of liquid crystals induced by nanosecond laser pulses are analyzed in the context of nonlinear multi-mode propagation in a liquid-crystal-cored fiber. The negative thermal density nonlinearity of the core gives rise to an intensity-dependent loss in the core-guided transmission and optical action. Experiments conducted with such liquid-crystal-cored fibers show that the optical limiting threshold for nanosecond laser pulses can be as low as 0.09 J/cm², which is one of the lowest among known nonlinear optical materials and structures, including bulk liquid-crystal films.     

新型偶氮苯衍生物的三阶非线性光学特性

本文以30 ps的脉冲激光为激发光源,用Z扫描技术研究了偶氮苯类材料4-羟基-4’-羧基偶氮苯(BN)和N-(3,4,5-辛氧基苯基)-N’-4-[(4-羟基苯)偶氮苯]1,3,4-恶二唑(AOB-t8)及金属复合物(Au/AOB-t8)的三阶非线性光学性质,并从理论上进行了分析和计算.结果表明,AOB-t8的三阶非线性极化率是BN的1.38倍,其非线性光学效应的增大是由共轭链增长、大π键增多引起的.结果同时给出,AOB-t8的三阶非线性极化率是其与金纳米颗粒复合物的4.7倍,这种与金属复合产生的非线性光学效应的减弱是金属引入的局域场效应与有机分子大π键作用之间相互抵消导致的.     

Multifunctional materials exhibiting spin crossover and liquid-crystalline properties

The physical characterization of a new class of Fe(II) multifunctional SCO materials exhibiting spin crossover and liquid crystalline properties in the room temperatures region is reported. Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetic, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and optical polarizing microscopy studies have been performed on such materials.     

Polarization holographic gratings in an azobenzene side-chain liquid-crystalline polymer

Polarization holographic recording was investigated in a liquid-crystalline azobenzene side-chain polymer. A highly stable polarization holographic grating with the diffraction efficiency of 12.6% was written in the polymer film by two orthogonally linearly polarized 532 nm beams with equal intensities of 150 mW/cm². The polarization grating was studied with a 633 nm probe beam by surveying the conversion of the polarization state of the probe beam and measuring the dependence of diffraction efficiency on the polarization direction of the probe beam. It was found that the ± first-order diffraction efficiency and the polarization of the diffracted wave depended strongly on the polarization of the readout wave. The unusual diffraction properties of the recorded grating were attributed to the presence of the circular photoinduced birefringence. PACS 42.40.Ht; 42.40.Lx; 78.20.Fm     

Optically controlled image storage in azobenzene liquid-crystalline polymer films

We report on optically controlled image storage based on photo-induced alignment in azobenzene liquid-crystalline polymer films. Measurements reveal that the polymer film possesses photo-induced birefringence of large magnitude and the characteristic of long-term optical storage. The photo-induced alignment process is used for storing images. The stored image is read from the film placed between two crossed polarizers. It is demonstrated clearly that the alignment of the azo chromophores as well as the stored image can be easily controlled by choosing the appropriate polarization of the irradiating light or by rotating the film. Received: 20 October 1998 / Revised version: 7 December 1998 / Published online: 31 March 1999     

Nonlinear optical effects in artificial materials

We consider some nonlinear phenomena in metamaterials with negative refractive index properties. Our consideration includes a survey of previously known results as well as identification of the phenomena that are important for applications of this new field. We focus on optical behavior of thin films as well as multi-wave interactions.     

Nonlinear optical properties of urea

We report measurements on the second and third order nonlinear hyperpolarizabilities of the urea molecule using the techniques of dc field induced second-harmonic generation and four-wave mixing. Single crystals of urea have been grown and found to have high optical damage thresholds from the near ir to the uv region of the spectrum.     

Solvent effects on structure and optical properties of a D- π-A azobenzene dye

Time-dependent hybrid density functional theory in combination with Onsager reaction field model and super-molecular model has been applied to study solvent effects on the geometrical and electronic structures, as well as one/two-photon absorption properties, of 4-（N-（2-hydroxyethyl）-N-methyl）-amino-4＇-nitroazobenzene. It is found that the short-range interaction has a large effect on the electronic structure of the solute molecule, namely, large red-shift of the maximum one-photon absorption is induced by hydrogen bonding. The solute molecule has a large two-photon absorption cross section, which is enhanced by the solvent effect. The computational results are in good agreement with measurements.[第一段]     

偶氮液晶聚合物薄膜的二维偏振全息记录

利用偏振全息记录的方法在一种含偶氮侧链的液晶聚合物薄膜中写入了二维偏振光栅.实验采用两束正交偏振的532 nm线偏光作为写入光,在样品同一点上分别记录了相互垂直的两个一维偏振光栅,继而对所构成的二维偏振光栅的特性进行了研究.实验结果表明：二维光栅的衍射效率比一维光栅低,其偏振特性是两个一维光栅元特性的叠加;二维光栅衍射效率对入射光偏振态的依赖性和光栅的偏振转换性质来源于材料中线双折射和圆双折射的共同作用. 关键词： 偏振全息 二维光栅 偶氮液晶聚合物     

Photophysical and nonlinear optical properties of an azobenzene substituted zinc phthalocyanine

Photophysical property and third-order optical nonlinearity of an azobenzene substituted zinc phthalocyanine (azo-ZnPc) in chloroform solution were studied by UV–Vis spectra method and a picosecond Z-scan technique at 532 nm with pulse duration of 25 ps, respectively. It was found that the azo-ZnPc shows large positive nonlinear refraction and positive nonlinear absorption, exhibiting the defocusing effect and reverse saturable absorption, respectively. The molecular second hyperpolarizability of the azo-ZnPc dyad was measured to be 3.9 × 10⁻³⁰ esu. All the results suggest that the studied azo-ZnPc dyad may have potential applications in the field of nonlinear optics.     

Nonlinear optical properties of a three-dimensional anisotropic quantum dot

The linear and nonlinear optical properties in a three-dimensional anisotropic quantum dot subjected to a uniform magnetic field directed with respect to the $z$-axis have been investigated within the compact-density matrix formalism and the iterative method. The dependence of the linear and nonlinear optical properties on the characteristic frequency of the parabolic potential, on the magnetic field, and on the incident optical intensity is studied in detail. Moreover, taking into account the position-dependent effective mass, the dependence of the linear and nonlinear optical properties on the dot radius is investigated. The results show that the optical absorption coefficients (ACs) and refractive index (RI) changes of the anisotropic quantum dot (QD) are strongly affected by these factors, and the position effect also plays an important role in the optical ACs and RI changes of the anisotropic QD.     

Nonlinear optical polarization effects in quantum-dot materials

The amplitude and dispersion of the cubic susceptibility-tensor components χ _ijkl ⁽³⁾ (?Ω; Ω, ω, ?ω) and of their combinations responsible for the Kerr and Faraday optical effects, as well as for the self-rotation of the polarization ellipse, are calculated within a simple model of a material with semiconducting spherical quantum dots without the inclusion of the excitonic effects and of processes of higher orders in field. It is shown that the susceptibilities increase smoothly in amplitude below the two-photon absorption threshold while remaining negative. Above the threshold, the susceptibilities exhibit sharp maxima associated with two-photon resonances. The regions with positive and negative real parts of the χ⁽³⁾ tensor components alternate. The magnitude of the induced linear or circular birefringence obtained suggest the possibility of using the nonlinear optical polarization effects in these materials to control light with short, high-intensity light pulses.