Fabrication of ultrathin films with large third-order nonlinear optical properties.

An ultrathin composite film containing anionic Ag-His complexes (His: L-Histidine) and oppositely charged BH-PPV was fabricated by means of the electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly technique. UV/Vis spectra showed a continuous deposition process of Ag-His complexes and BH-PPV. The film structure was characterized by using small-angle X-ray diffraction, AFM, and SEM. The nonlinear optical properties of the ultrathin film were studied by using the Z-scan technique with a laser duration of 8 ns at a wavelength of 532 nm. The film sample exhibited a strong nonlinear saturated absorption, with an alpha2 value of -3.9 x 10(-5) mW(-1) and a self-defocusing effect with an n2 value of -4.78 x 10 (-12) m2W(-1).     

Core-modified, meso-alkylidenyl porphyrins and their expanded analogues: a new family of nonplanar porphyrinoids

New core-modified, meso-alkylidenyl porphyrinoids bearing multiple exocyclic double bonds were synthesized and characterized. The synthesis was accomplished using a typical "3 + 1"-type condensation approach. Stable exocyclic tautomers bearing double bonds at the meso positions, as well the corresponding endocyclic tautomers, were isolated in the case of both thiabenziporphyrin and thiapyriporphyrin products prepared in the course of this study. On the other hand, only the exocyclic tautomer was isolated in the case of the congeneric oxapyriporphyrin and oxabenziporphyrin. Expanded analogues of the exocyclic forms of oxabenziporphyrin and thiabenziporphyrin were also isolated as minor products. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of the expanded thiabenziporphyrin (20) revealed that all four pyrrole rings displayed an inverted geometry, presumably reflecting the strong hydrogen-bonding extant between the pyrrole N-H proton and the carbonyl group of the malonate moiety in the solid state. On the other hand, the expanded oxabenziporphyrin (14) was found to possess a severely distorted geometry with only one pyrrole ring being inverted. Careful analysis of the structure revealed that the solid-state geometry of the expanded macrocycles correlates well with the internal angle defined by the 2- and 5 substituents and the centers of the furan (14) or thiophene (20) subunits.     

Ultrafast and large third-order nonlinear optical properties of CdS nanocrystals in polymeric film

We report the ultrafast and large third-order nonlinear optical properties of CdS nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in a polymeric film. The CdS NCs of 2 nm radius are synthesized by an ion-exchange method and highly concentrated in the two layers near the surfaces of the polymeric film. The two-photon absorption coefficient and the optical Kerr coefficient are measured with laser pulses of 250 fs duration at 800 nm wavelength. The one-photon and two-photon figures of merit are determined to be 3.1 and 1.3, respectively, at irradiance of 2 GW/cm(2). The observed nonlinearities have a recovery time of approximately 1 ps. The two-photon-generated free carrier effects have also been observed and discussed. These results demonstrate that CdS NCs embedded in polymeric film are a promising candidate for optical switching applications.     

meso-Trifluoromethyl-substituted expanded porphyrins

A series of meso-trifluoromethyl-substituted expanded porphyrins, including N-fused [24]pentaphyrin 3, [28]hexaphyrin 4, [32]heptaphyrin 5, [46]decaphyrin 6, and [56]dodecaphyrin 7, were synthesized by means of an acid-catalyzed one-pot condensation reaction of 2-(2,2,2-trifluoro-1-hydroxyethyl)pyrrole (1) as the first examples bearing meso-alkyl substituents. Besides these products, porphyrin 2 and two calix[5]phyrins 8 and 9 were also obtained. [28]Hexaphyrin 4 was quantitatively oxidized to [26]hexaphyrin 14 with MnO(2). These expanded porphyrins have been characterized by mass spectrometry, (1)H and (19)F NMR spectroscopy, and UV/Vis spectroscopy. The single-crystal structures have been determined for 3, 4, 6, 7, and 14. The N-fused [24]pentaphyrin 3 displays a distorted structure containing a tricyclic fused moiety that is similar to those of meso-aryl-substituted counterparts, whereas 8 and 9 are indicated to take roughly planar conformations with an inverted pyrrole opposite to the sp(3)-hybridized meso-carbon atom. Both [28]- and [26]hexaphyrins 4 and 14 have figure-of-eight structures. Solid-state structures of the decaphyrin 6 and dodecaphyrin 7 are remarkable, exhibiting a crescent conformation and an intramolecular two-pitch helical conformation, respectively.     

Origin of the saturation of the third-order optical nonlinear response of one-dimensional conjugated systems

The coupled quantum oscillator model is applied to the evaluation of conformational effects in thiophene and polyene oligomers. Thermochromism measurements on heptathiophene are presented and modeled. The effect of conformation is also studied in recently published nonlinear optical experiments on polyene oligomers. It is shown that the model accounts for a masterplot which summarizes the length dependence of the optical properties of conjugated molecules.     

Exceptionally large second-order nonlinear optical response in donor-graphene nanoribbon-acceptor systems

Graphene nanoribbon (GNR) has been used, for the first time, as an excellent conjugated bridge in a donor-conjugated bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) framework to design high-performance second-order nonlinear optical materials. Owing to the unique diradical planar conjugated bridge of GNR, D(NH(2))-GNR-A(NO(2)) exhibits exceptionally large static first hyperpolarizability (β(0)) up to 2.5×10(6) a.u. (22000×10(-30) esu) for H(2)N-(7,3)ZGNR-NO(2) (ZGNR=zigzag-edged GNR), which is about 15 times larger than the recorded value of β(0) (1470×10(-30) esu) for the D-A polyene reported by Blanchard-Desce et al. [Chem. Eur. J. 1997, 3, 1091]. Interestingly, we have found that the size effect of GNR plays a key role in increasing β(0) for the H(2)N-GNR-NO(2) system, in which the width effect of GNR perpendicular to the D-A direction is superior to the length effect along the D-A direction.     

Nonlinear optical properties and excited-state dynamics of highly symmetric expanded porphyrins

A strong correlation among calculated Nucleus-Independent Chemical Shift (NICS) values, molecular planarity, and the observed two-photon absorption (TPA) values was found for a series of closely matched expanded porphyrins. The expanded porphyrins in question consisted of [26]hexaphyrin, [28]hexaphyrin, rubyrin, amethyrin, cyclo[6]pyrrole, cyclo[7]pyrrole, and cyclo[8]pyrrole containing 22, 24, 26, 28, and 30 pi-electrons. Two of the systems, [28]hexaphyrin and amethyrin, were considered to be antiaromatic as judged from a simple application of Hückel's [4n + 2] rule. These systems displayed positive NICS(0) values (+43.5 and +17.1 ppm, respectively) and gave rise to TPA values of 2600 and 3100 GM, respectively. By contrast, a set of congeners containing 22, 26, and 30 pi-electrons (cyclo[n]pyrrole, n = 6, 7, and 8, respectively) were characterized by a linear correlation between the NICS and TPA values. In the case of the oligopyrrolic macrocycles containing 26 pi-electron systems, a further correlation between the molecular structure and various markers associated with aromaticity was seen. In particular, a decrease in the excited state lifetimes and an increase in the TPA values were seen as the flexibility of the systems increased. Based on the findings presented here, it is proposed that various readily measurable optical properties, including the two-photon absorption cross-section, can provide a quantitative experimental measure of aromaticity in macrocyclic pi-conjugated systems.     

Fused perylenebisimide-carbazole: new ladder chromophores with enhanced third-order nonlinear optical activities

A series of ladder chromophores featuring planar structures of fused perylenebisimide and carbazole have been efficiently synthesized via photocyclization under sun light. Compared to N,N'-bis(3-pentyl) perylenebisimide (PBI-1), they show remarkably enhanced nonlinear properties.     

Large third-order optical nonlinear effects of gold nanoparticles with unusual fluorescence enhancement

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of two solutions of gold nanoparticles protected by carbazolyldiacetylene derivatives were investigated using the Z-scan technique. Both gold nanoparticle colloid solutions in toluene show unusual fluorescent enhancement and large third-order nonlinear optical properties including nonlinear absorption and refractive effects. When extending the pi-conjugated length of the ligands, the third-order nonlinear properties of composite materials based on gold nanoparticles were enhanced accordingly.     

meso-Dichloropyrimidinyl substituted expanded porphyrins

Condensation of 4,6-dichloro-2-phenylpyrimidine-5-carbaldehyde with pyrrole enables the synthesis of a number of expanded porphyrins of which the [26]hexaphyrin was easily isolated and successfully converted into the decasubstituted doubly N-fused hexaphyrin variant.     

A new class of organic donor-acceptor molecules with large third-order optical nonlinearities

Donor-acceptor molecules with 4-(dimethylamino)phenyl donor and 1,1,4,4-tetracyanobuta-1,3-diene acceptor moieties are readily prepared by short, high-yielding routes. The quite small chromophores are characterised by X-ray crystallography and feature intense intramolecular charge-transfer bands, substantial quinoid character in the donor rings, reversible electrochemical reductions and oxidations and powerful third-order optical nonlinearities.     

Inverted porphyrins and expanded porphyrins: An overview

Porphyrins and metallopophyrins have attracted the attention of chemists for the past 100 years or more owing to their widespread involvement in biology. More recently, synthetic porphyrins and porphyrin-like macrocycles have attracted the attention of researchers due to their diverse applications as sensitizers for photodynamic therapy, MRI contrasting agents, and complexing agents for larger metal ions and also for their anion binding abilities. The number of π-electrons in the porphyrin ring can be increased either by increasing the numberof conjugated double bonds between the pyrrole rings or by increasing the number of heterocyclic rings. Thus, 22π sapphyrins, 26π rubyrins, 30π heptaphyrins, 34π octaphyrins and higher cyclic polypyrrole analogues containing 40π, 48π, 64π, 80π and 96π systems have recently been reported in the literature. These macrocycles show rich structural diversity where normal and different kinds of inverted structures have been identified. In this review, an attempt has been made to collect the literature of the inverted porphyrins and expanded porphyrins reported until December 2001. Since themeso aryl expanded porphyrins have tendency to form both inverted and non-inverted structures more emphasis has been given tomeso aryl expanded porphyrins.     

酞菁和酞菁铜的三阶非线性光学性质

用INDO/SDCI方法研究了酞菁和酞菁铜的电子结构, 紫外-可见光谱, 三阶非线性光学系数及其色散效应, 发现酞菁铜中Cu^2+对γ的贡献很小, 故酞菁与酞菁铜的γ几乎相等, 我们的计算结果对此进行了合理的解释。     

meso-Porphyrinyl-substituted porphyrin and expanded porphyrins

[structure: see text] A series of meso-porphyrinyl-substituted expanded porphyrins were prepared from the 1:1 acid-catalyzed condensation reaction of 4-porphyrinyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzaldehyde and pyrrole.     

两个二茂铁基查尔酮衍生物的合成及超快三阶非线性光学响应

合成两种新颖的含二茂铁基团的查尔酮衍生物：1-二茂铁基-3-(4-叔丁基苯基)丙烯酮(a)和1-二茂铁基-3-联苯基丙烯酮(b),经₁H NMR、₁₃C NMR、HR-MS对其结构进行了表征;测定了该两化合物的热力学性质;采用量子化学方法计算了它们的分子轨道能量和极化率,给出了轨道电子云图;采用紫外-可见吸收光谱和Z-扫描技术测定了其线性和非线性光学性质。结果表明：与原料相比,化合物a和b的紫外吸收明显增加,且b的吸收波长更长;化合物a和b均存在分子内电荷转移现象,表现出超快三阶非线性光学响应。     

One-pot synthesis and third-order nonlinear optical properties of AgInS2 nanocrystals

Good quality colloidal nanocrystals of metastable orthorhombic phase of AgInS2 obtained by decomposing the single-precursor [(Ph3P)2AgIn(SCOPh)4] in a mixture of dodecanethiol and oleic acid at 125-200 degrees C, exhibit significant third order non-linear optical properties.     

Modeling of configurations and third-order nonlinear optical properties of methyl silsesquioxanes

Configuration optimizations, excited state properties, and the frequency-dependent third-order nonlinear optical polarizabilities have been investigated on a series of methyl-silsesquioxane (MeT) cages [CH(3)SiO(1.5)](n) (n=4, 6, 8, and 10) using ab initio quantum mechanical methods coupled with the sum-over-states methods. The obtained electronic absorption spectra show a redshift as the cage size increases, and the absorption spectra are assigned as charge transfers from oxygen p type to silicon s type atomic orbitals. The calculated average third-order polarizabilities of in the three optical physical processes (third-harmonic generation, the electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation, and degenerate four-wave mixing) have wide nonresonance regions. For all the considered species, the values of gamma decrease in the order of [MeT](4)>[MeT](8)(C(2v))=[MeT](10)>[MeT](6)>[MeT](8)(O(h)).     

Very high third-order nonlinear optical activities of intrazeolite PbS quantum dots

Zeolite-intercalated semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have long been proposed to give very high third-order nonlinear optical (3NLO) responses. However, measurements of their 3NLO responses have not been possible due to the lack of methods to prepare optically transparent QD-incorporating zeolite films supported on optically transparent substrates and to confine QDs only within zeolite interiors. We found that the zeolite-Y films grown on indium-tin-oxide-coated glass plates (Ygs) remain firmly bonded to the substrates during ion exchange with Pb2+ ions, drying, and formation of PbS QDs by treating Pb2+ ions with H2S. A series of Ygs encapsulating different numbers (n = 0, 8, 14, 23, and 33) of PbS in a unit cell [(PbS)n-Yg] were prepared. The PbS QDs were expelled by adsorbed moisture to the external surfaces, and the expelled QDs formed large QDs. Coating of the (PbS)n-Ygs with octadecyltrimethoxysilane results in effective confinement of the QDs within the internal pores. The zeolite-encapsulated PbS QDs showed remarkably high 3NLO activities at 532 and 1064 nm which are unparalleled by other PbS QDs dispersed in other matrixes.     

A simplified three-level model describing the molecular third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility

A simplified three-level model for γ, the molecular third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility, is presented and discussed. The perturbation theory-based approach suggests that there are three primary avenues to optimizing molecular four-wave mixing susceptibilities and that with each of these is associated a particular class of molecular electronic structures. The three electronic structure classes consist of (1) conjugated donor–acceptor dipolar molecules with a large secondorder susceptibility, β; (2) even-member conjugated chains such as -enes, -ynes, and ene–ynes with large two-photon dominated susceptibilities; and (3) “charged” odd-member conjugated chaines with large linear absorption dominated third-order susceptibilities such as squaryliums (perhaps, more generally, the polymethine dyes). Classes (1) and (2) have been known and investigated in the past, while recent results of ours suggest the existence of the third and perhaps final class.