Study of optical parameters of two fluorinated isothiocyanato nematic liquid crystals exhibiting high birefringence

Optical studies have been carried out on two fluorinated isothiocyanato nematic liquid crystal (LC) compounds 4′-butylcyclohexyl-3, 5-difluoro-4-isothiocyanatobiphenyl and 4′-pentylcyclohexyl-3, 5-difluoro-4-isothiocynatobiphenyl. Transition temperatures of the two samples were confirmed using a polarizing microscope. The two LC compounds were found to exhibit fairly high clearing temperatures. Measurements of refractive indices of the two compounds were done by using thin prism method with He-Ne laser beam of wavelength 630 nm. Birefringence of the two LC compounds was calculated from the measured refractive indices. Both the compounds are found to display fairly high values of birefringence. Validation of a modified four-parameter model, based on Vuks equation describing the temperature dependence of refractive indices of the two liquid crystals, is also presented in this paper. The model is validated by fitting the experimentally measured values of refractive indices, birefringence and average refractive indices of the two nematic LCs with the theoretical values. In this paper, the calculation of order parameters of the LCs is presented by using two methods: direct extrapolation method based solely on the birefringence data and by using modified Vuks method based on Haller’s extrapolation. As observed from the obtained results, this procedure of calculating order parameter gives very reasonable results.     

Synthesis and two-photon optical characterization of D-π-D type Schiff bases

The title compounds, several Schiff bases with D-π-D type have been successfully synthesized from reaction of 4-(N-dialkylamino) benzaldehyde and hydrazine or p-phenylenediamine in ethanol. These compounds were characterized by IR, ¹H NMR, elemental analysis and electronspray mass spectrometry. One-photon fluorescence and two-photon fluorescence properties have been investigated. The two-photon absorption (TPA) cross section (σ) of these compounds was obtained by using the open-aperture Z-scan technique. Based on theoretical calculations and factual test, the influence that a series of substituted groups and the conjugated frame imposed on TPA cross section were systematically discussed.     

Self-assembly,optical and electrical properties of fork-tailed perylene bisimides

Effect of side-chain length on self-assembly, optical and electrochemical properties of N,N′-di(1-pentylbutyl)perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic bisimide and N,N′-di(1-hexylpentyl)perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic bisimide has been studied. The photo-physical, thermal and electrochemical properties were studied using UV–Vis and fluorescence, differential scanning calorimetry, and cyclic voltammetry, respectively. The molecules self-assembled as 1D – rods and molecular bundles, self-assembly was studied using SEM, optical and fluorescence microscopic techniques. The results concluded that the compound with short tail exhibits low solubility and self-assembled faster. The photo-physical properties of the compounds were not much affected by varying the alkyl chain length. The compounds geometries were optimized at 6-31G^∗ using DFT and the potentials were correlated with molecular orbitals.     

The bandstructure and optical properties of PtBi

By means of the APW-method the electronic bandstructure and the density of states of PtBi have been calculated. The spatial behaviour of the d-states has been investigated and the Fermi-level calculated. Experimental data, e.g. XPS, were used to test the results. Also a comparison was made with two closely related compounds PdSb and PtSn. Finally the optical properties of PtBi have been calculated from the collected numerical data, using the joint density of states and density—density correlation formalism.     

Trimeric metallo-phthalocyanines with good performances for nanosecond optical limiting in solution

Optical limiting (OL) performances of two trimeric metallo-phthalocyanines namely, 2,4,6-tris[2-oxa-9,10,16,17,23,24-hexa(hexylthio) phthalocyaninato M(II)]-s-triazine (M = Zn for compound ZnPc and Cu for compound CuPc) were investigated by using the Z-scan technique. The measurements were performed using collimated 4 ns pulses generated from a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm wavelength. OL parameters of the ratio of the excited state to ground state absorption cross-sections κ, the effective non-linear absorption coefficient β_eff, the linear absorption coefficient α₀, limiting threshold F_th and the saturation density or energy density F_sat values were determined for the investigated compounds. The results indicated that both compounds exhibited good OL performances. ZnPc shows slightly better OL parameters than that of CuPc.     

Finite-frequency optical absorption in 1D conductors and mott-hubbard insulators

The frequency-dependent conductivity is studied for the one-dimensional Hubbard model, using a selection rule, the Bethe ansatz, and symmetries associated with conservation laws. For densities where the system is metallic the absorption spectrum has two contributions, a Drude peak at omega = 0 separated by a pseudogap from a broad absorption band whose lower edge is characterized by a nonclassical critical exponent. Our findings shed new light on the "far infrared puzzle" and other optical properties of metallic organic chain compounds.     

Crystallographic and optical properties of rare-earth chromium sulfides RCrS3

Rare earch chromium sulfides RCrS₃; R=Y, Gd, Dy, Ho and Er have been synthesized by high temperature reaction of the respective oxides, RCrO₃, with CS₂. Single crystals have been grown by mineralization of the polycrystalline powders using halogen as a mineralizer. The crystal structures were determined from X-ray rotation and Weissenberg photographs. RCrS₃, with R=Y, Gd, Ho and Er, were found to have an isostructural monoclinic structure, while DyCrS₃ was found to have an orthorhombic structure, closely related to the monoclinic compounds. The optical absorption of these compounds, as well as of LaCrS₃ whose structure was previously reported, was measured over the photon energy range 0·15～1·7 eV. For all the compounds, a sharp absorption edge was found at 1·20～1·30 eV at room temperature.This absorption edge shifts toward higher energy upon cooling from room temperature. The infrared absorption of DyCrS₃, HoCrS₃ and ErCrS₃ was negligible, while that of YCrS₃, LaCrS₃ and GdCrS₃ increased markedly, with decreasing photon energy.     

Ultra fast third-order non-linear response of amino-triazole donor-acceptor derivatives by optical Kerr effect

We report the study of the temporal dependence of the non-linear optical response of novel organic materials in solution. The experimental results of the optical Kerr gate using 70 fs pulses show a quasi-instantaneous response for three derivatives of an amino-triazole donor-acceptor system. The non-linearity of the compounds is identified as arising from the electronic contribution to the third-order non-linear susceptibility. The non-linear parameters of each sample were obtained using the optical Kerr response of CS₂ as reference.     

Structural, optical and electrical characterization of antimony-substituted tin oxide nanoparticles

Antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) nanostructures were prepared using chemical precipitation technique starting from SnCl₂, SbCl₃ as precursor compounds. The antimony composition was varied from 5 to 20 wt%. The lower resistance was observed at composition of Sn:95 and Sb:05, when compared with undoped and higher doping concentration of antimony. The average crystalline size of undoped and doped tin oxide was calculated from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and found to be in the range of 30-11 nm and it was further confirmed from the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that the nanoparticles agglomerates forming spherical-shaped particles of few hundreds nanometers. The samples were further analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electrical resistance measurements.     

Effect of bromine substituent on optical properties of aryl compounds

Substituents significantly affect optical properties of organic compounds. In this study, a series of organic compounds were synthesized. Ultraviolet‐visible and cyclic voltammetry spectra were determined. The relationships between the number of π electron in an aryl ring and the redshift (and molecular orbital energy levels) were studied. To investigate mechanisms of the bromine substituent effects, theoretical calculations were carried out. Ultraviolet‐visible spectra of bromine‐containing compounds exhibit obvious redshifts (0.04‐0.17 eV) of the maximal absorption wavelengths and enhanced absorbance (11%‐57%) compared with corresponding reference compounds. The lowest unoccupied and highest occupied molecular orbital energy levels of compounds containing bromine substituents are 0.05 to 0.60 and 0.02 to 0.40 eV lower than that of corresponding reference compounds. On the whole, the redshifts and the reduced molecular orbital energy levels caused by bromine substituent decrease with the increase in the number of π electron in an aryl ring. The effects would be attributed to strong p‐π conjugation between p electron in the bromine substituent and π electrons in aryl rings. Therefore, this paper suggests a useful way for tuning optical absorption and molecular orbital energy levels of aryl compounds.     

Third-order nonlinear optical response of newly synthesized accepter/donor substituted propylidene aryloxy acet hydrazide

A class of organic compounds namely propylidene aryloxy acet hydrazide derivatives were synthesized. The third-order nonlinear optical properties and optical limiting studies of the compounds were investigated using the single beam Z-scan technique at 532 nm. The Z-scan study reveals that the compounds exhibit a self-defocusing effect at 532 nm. The calculated values of nonlinear refractive index, third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility and second order molecular hyperpolarizability are of the order of 10^?11 esu, 10^?13 esu and 10^?31 esu, respectively. The compounds exhibit good optical limiting properties at the wavelength used.     

FIR optical properties of single crystal Ba-and Sr-hexaferrite

Far-infrared reflectivity measurements on single crystal barium and strontium hexaferrite are presented. The infrared active TO, and the associated LO phonon frequencies and the dielectric permittivity functions for E ⊥c have been determined using a fitting procedure based on a four parameter model. The infrared active modes of these compounds (space group D⁴_6h have been determined by group theoretical analysis and the results compared with the spectroscopic measurements.     

Heteroborospherene nanoclusters as high-performance nonlinear optical materials

Today, the design of new compounds with giant nonlinear optical responses is attracted to many researchers. Inspired by an interesting finding of a new class of heteroborospherenes which were formed by doping four carbon atoms in the B364- nanocluster (C4B32), we suggest the alkali metal-doped C4B32 (M@C4B32, M=Li, Na, and K) nanoclusters as high-performance nonlinear optical materials. Our results show that the alkali metal atoms have a considerable effect on the structural and electronic properties of the C4B32 nanocluster. We found that the doping alkali metal can remarkably decrease the HOMO-LUMO gap and significantly increases the first hyperpolarizability of the C4B32 nanocluster. Also, our results reveal that the first hyperpolarizability of the M@C4B32 nanoclusters can be progressively enhanced by increasing the atomic number of alkali metals. The effect of external electric fields on the nonlinear optical responses of the M@C4B32 has been systematically explored. We found that the first hyperpolarizability of the M@C4B32 compounds can be gradually increased by increasing the imposed external electric field from zero to the critical external electric field along the charge transfer direction (M→C4B32). Accordingly, this work presents an efficient strategy to improve the nonlinear optical responses of the heteroborospherenes.     

Effect of aluminium doping and annealing on structural and optical properties of cerium oxide nanocrystals

Nanocrystalline fluorite-like structures of Ce_1−xAl_xO_2−δ compounds were prepared by the chemical precipitation method using cerium chloride and aluminium chloride as precursors. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The effects of aluminium doping concentration and annealing on particle size, lattice parameter and band gap energies were investigated. The particle size of Al-doped CeO₂ samples were found to decrease with Al concentration and it increases from 6 to 20 nm as annealing temperature increases to 900 °C.     

Effect of iron doping and annealing on structural and optical properties of cerium oxide nanocrystals

Nanocrystalline fluorite-like structures of Ce_1−xFe_xO_2−δ compounds were prepared by chemical precipitation method using cerium chloride and iron chloride as precursors. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The effects of iron doping concentration and annealing on particle size, lattice parameter and band gap energies were investigated. The particle size of Fe-doped CeO₂ samples were found to decrease with iron concentration and it increases from 9 to 26 nm as annealing temperature increases to 900 °C.     

Synthesis and optical properties of novel pyrido[1,2-a]benzimidazole-containing 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives

A series of novel substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives containing pyrido[1,2-a]benzimidazole moiety were synthesized and characterized using FTIR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and HRMS. An efficient tandem reaction was employed as a key step in constructing the pyrido[1,2-a]benzimidazole moiety under very mild condition. The structure of compound 4a was established by X-ray crystallography. The UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectral characteristics of these compounds were investigated in several solvents. Compounds 4a-i display similar absorptions, with absorption peaks ranging from 330 to 339 nm in acetonitrile, while the absorption maxima of compound 4j bearing a diphenylamino group on the benzene ring is red-shifted distinctly to 377 nm due to the strong electron-donating property of its substituent and extended π-conjugated system. All these target heterocyclic compounds present blue-green emissions (461-487 nm) in dilute solutions and show high quantum yields of fluorescence (Ф_PL=0.65−0.99) in dichloromethane.     

Synthesis,X-ray crystal structure and optical properties research of novel diphenyl sulfone-based bis-pyrazoline derivatives

A series of novel bis-pyrazoline derivatives were synthesized by the reaction of chalcone and (sulfonylbis(3,1-phenylene))bis(hydrazine) in 20–34% yields. The structures of the compounds were determined by IR, ¹H NMR, HRMS spectra, and a representative compound 3b was confirmed based on the X-ray crystallographic analysis. Absorption and fluorescence spectra of these compounds in dichloromethane solution were investigated. The results showed that the emission maxima varied from 415 to 444 nm mainly depending on C3 substituents of pyrazoline moiety. The compounds had higher quantum yields, when C3 substituent was an electron-withdrawing p-chlorophenyl group. Moreover, absorption spectra and emission spectra exhibited a blue-shift and a red-shift with increasing the polarity of solvents, respectively. Fluorescent molecules happened to collide with each other and resulted in quench of the fluorescence when the concentration increased over to 10^?5 M.     

Structure and optical properties of lead iodide based two-dimensional perovskite compounds containing fluorophenethylamines

Phenethylammonium-based perovskites, which can be regarded as a semiconductor/insulator multiple quantum well consisting of lead halide semiconductor layers sandwiched between phenethylammonium insulator layers were prepared. To investigate the effects of the electronic state and the orientation of organic insulator layers on the optical properties of layered perovskites, fluorine substituted analogues were also prepared. The structure and optical properties were investigated by the XRD, UV–Vis absorption, and fluorescence measurements. The exciton absorption peak was shifted by the substitution of fluorine atoms in organic ammonium compounds. It became clear that the optical properties of two-dimensional perovskite compounds were controlled by the substitution of fluorine atoms.     

Synthesis and optical characterization of nanocrystalline CdTe thin films

From several years the study of binary compounds has been intensified in order to find new materials for solar photocells. The development of thin film solar cells is an active area of research at this time. Much attention has been paid to the development of low cost, high efficiency thin film solar cells. CdTe is one of the suitable candidates for the production of thin film solar cells due to its ideal band gap, high absorption coefficient. The present work deals with thickness dependent study of CdTe thin films. Nanocrystalline CdTe bulk powder was synthesized by wet chemical route at pH≈11.2 using cadmium chloride and potassium telluride as starting materials. The product sample was characterized by transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. The structural characteristics studied by X-ray diffraction showed that the films are polycrystalline in nature. CdTe thin films with thickness 40, 60, 80 and 100 nm were prepared on glass substrates by using thermal evaporation onto glass substrate under a vacuum of 10⁻⁶ Torr. The optical constants (absorption coefficient, optical band gap, refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary part of dielectric constant) of CdTe thin films was studied as a function of photon energy in the wavelength region 400–2000 nm. Analysis of the optical absorption data shows that the rule of direct transitions predominates. It has been found that the absorption coefficient, refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) decreases while the values of optical band gap increase with an increase in thickness from 40 to 100 nm, which can be explained qualitatively by a thickness dependence of the grain size through decrease in grain boundary barrier height with grain size.     

Photodynamics of optical limiting upon two-photon excitation of a liquid crystal-perylene system

On the example of a model system—liquid crystal-perylene—the efficiency of the two-photon mechanism in solving problems of optical limiting and the prospects of using for these purposes radical ions that are formed due to the action of laser radiation on polycyclic compounds are shown. The role of luminescence quenching by light as a secondary nonlinear effect in the kinetics of optical limiting is considered in detail.