Entropic Mixing Allows Monomeric-Like Absorption in Neat BODIPY Films

Intermolecular interactions play a crucial role in materials chemistry because they govern thin film morphology. The photophysical properties of films of organic dyes are highly sensitive to the local environment, and a considerable effort has therefore been dedicated to engineering the morphology of organic thin films. Solubilizing side chains can successfully spatially separate chromophores, reducing detrimental intermolecular interactions. However, this strategy is also significantly decreasing achievable dye concentration. Here, five BODIPY derivatives containing small alkyl chains in the α-position were synthesized and photophysically characterized. By blending two or more derivatives, the increase in entropy reduces aggregation and therefore produces films with extreme dye concentration and, at the same time almost solution like absorption properties. Such a film was placed inside an optical cavity and the achieved system was demonstrated to reach the strong exciton-photon coupling regime by virtue of the achieved dye concentration and sharp absorption features of the film.     

Synthesis and Nonlinear Optical Susceptibility of Cyanine Dye J-Aggregate Doped Silica Film (I)

We synthesized thin silica films doped with condensed J aggregates of pseudisocyanine dyes (PIC) as a material for nonlinear optical devices by simple sol-gel processing and spincasting. The sol and the silica films were characterized with UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy. The films contain plenty J aggregates, and are optically transparent and stable at room temperature. J aggregation dependence on dye concentration in the sol and spin speed during spincasting were investigated. It was found that dye condensation in the sol solution and fast spinning promote the formation of J aggregates in the films. Because of the high third order nonlinear susceptibility around 10^–7 esu, the films are expected to be useful for non-linear optical devices.     

Photophysical property and photostability of J-aggregate thin films of thiacyanine dyes prepared by the spin-coating method

By use of electrostatic interactions of dye molecules and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA), the spin-coating technique has been successfully applied to the preparation of stable J-aggregate thin films of thiacarbocyanine dyes on a polycarbonate or quartz plate. The J-aggregate thin films were prepared by the spin-coating of PDDA aqueous solution on dye thin films prepared on a substrate by the spin-coating of 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propanol solution of dyes. Photophysical properties of the dye thin films and J-aggregate thin films were studied by measuring the fluorescence spectra, quantum yields, and lifetimes. Coherent size of the J-aggregates was estimated to be 3-12 by means of the absorption bandwidth (full width at half maximum) or radiative lifetime. Photostability of the J-aggregate thin films was also studied in terms of photodegradation efficiency under argon and oxygen in comparison with the dye thin films, and J-aggregate thin films were found to be more stable than the corresponding dye thin films.     

Single-beam Z-scan measurement of the third-order optical nonlinearities of azo dyes

Organic dyes are very attractive optical materials for photonics and biophotonic applications. To quantitatively characterize their third-order nonlinear coefficients we have performed the experiments on two different azo dyes using a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm. The |chi(3)| is of the order of 10(-6) esu. The relative contributions from nonlinear absorption (NLA) and nonlinear refraction (NLR) are dependent on the chemical structure and linear absorption of the dyes.     

Bisdioxaborine polymethines with large third-order nonlinearities for all-optical signal processing

Organic materials with large third-order nonlinearities in the near-infrared spectral regime are critical in the development of photonic devices to be utilized in all-optical signal processing. We have developed polymethine materials, specifically bisdioxaborine-terminated polymethine dyes, which possess large ultrafast third-order nonlinearities and low nonlinear loss all in the near-infrared spectral regime. An extended bisdioxaborine polymethine anion exhibited the largest value of gamma (third-order microscopic nonlinearity) at 1.3 mum (|gamma| = 5.7 x 10-32 esu) and showed no characteristics of symmetry breaking, unlike other polymethines of similar lengths. A neat film of this molecule maintained relatively low linear loss in the near-infrared and showed a large third-order macroscopic nonlinearity at 1.3 mum (|chi(3)| = 3.6 x 10-10 esu), with a temporal response of less than 8 ps. Furthermore, the real part of chi(3) was nearly an order-of-magnitude larger than the imaginary component. Consequently, this material exhibited good figures of merit for all-optical signal processing throughout the entire telecommunications band.     

Cyanine‐Like Dyes with Large Bond‐Length Alternation

Herein, the synthesis and properties of alkyne‐bridged carbocations, which are analogous in structure to cyanine dyes, are reported. An alkene‐bridged dye, linked at the third position of the indole, was also synthesized as a reference compound. These new carbocations are stable under ambient conditions, allowing characterization by UV/Vis and NMR (¹H and ¹³C) spectroscopies. These techniques revealed a large degree of delocalization of the positive charge, similar to a previously reported porphyrin carbocation. The linear and nonlinear optical properties are compared with cyanine dyes and triarylmethyl cations, to investigate the effects of the bond‐length alternation and the overall molecular geometry. The value of Re(γ), the real part of the third‐order microscopic polarizability, of ?1.3×10^?33 esu for the alkyne‐linked cation is comparable to that of a cyanine dye of similar length. Nondegenerate two‐photon absorption spectra showed that the alkene‐bridged dye exhibited characteristics of cyanines, whereas the alkyne‐bridged dye is reminiscent of octupolar chromophores, such as the triarylmethyl carbocation brilliant green. Such attributes were confirmed and rationalized by quantum chemical calculations.     

Preillumination of TiO2 and Ta2O5 photoactive thin films as a tool to tailor the synthesis of composite materials

Illumination of TiO 2 thin films with UV light is known to induce the transformation of the surface of this material from partially hydrophobic into fully hydrophilic. The present work shows that this transformation is accompanied by other effects that may be used to control the synthesis of composite materials. For this purpose, TiO 2 and Ta 2O 5 transparent thin films with a columnar structure and open pores were prepared by electron evaporation at glancing angles. Transparent TiO 2 thin films with micropores (i.e., pores smaller than 2 nm) prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were also used. All these films became hydrophilic upon UV illumination. Rhodamine 6G and Rhodamine 800 dyes were irreversibly adsorbed within the columns of the TiO 2 and Ta 2O 5 thin films by immersion into a water solution of these molecules. Isolated and aggregated molecules of these two dyes were detected by visible absorption spectroscopy. The infiltration adsorption efficiency was directly correlated with the acidity of the medium, increasing at basic pHs as expected from simple considerations based on the concepts of the point of zero charge (PZC) in colloidal oxides. The infiltration experiments were repeated with columnar TiO 2 and Ta 2O 5 thin films that were subjected to preillumination with UV light. It was found that this treatment produced a modification in the type (isolated or aggregated) and amount of dye molecules incorporated into the pores. Moreover, the selective adsorption of a given dye in preilluminated areas of the films permitted the lithographic coloring of the films. Preillumination also controls the UV induced deposition of silver on the surface of the microporous TiO 2 thin films. It was found that the size distribution of the formed silver nanoparticles was dependent on the preillumination treatment and that a well-resolved surface plasmon resonance at around 500 nm was only monitored in the preilluminated films. A model is proposed to account for the effects induced by UV preillumination on the TiO 2 and Ta 2O 5 oxide surfaces. The possibilities of this type of light treatment for the tailored synthesis of nanocomposite thin films (i.e., dye-oxide, metal nanoparticles-oxide) are highlighted.     

一种近红外光记录与存储材料——克酮酸染料的三阶非线性光学性质

克酮酸染料是一类新型的近红外吸收染料,由于具有良好的光热稳定性和荧光性能,因而在光记录与存储等领域有着潜在的应用价值.本文利用简并四波混频技术,在近红外区不同吸收波长,在脉宽为130 fs条件下研究了一种吲哚克酮酸染料在溶液和薄膜中的三阶非线性光学性质.该克酮酸染料在773 nm,四氢呋喃溶液中的共振三阶超分子极化率γ为5.3×10^-29esu,在薄膜中的共振三阶非线性极化率χ⁽³⁾值达到10^-8esu数量级.同时,对于三阶非线性光学响应及其动力学机制也进行了研究和探讨.     

Helicity Control in the Aggregation of Achiral Squaraine Dyes in Solution and Thin Films

Squaraine dyes are well known for their strong absorption in the visible regime. Reports on chiral squaraine dyes are, however, scarce. To address this gap, we here report two novel chiral squaraine dyes and their achiral counterparts. The presented dyes are aggregated in solution and in thin films. A detailed chiroptical study shows that thin films formed by co-assembling the chiral dye with its achiral counterpart exhibit exceptional photophysical properties. The circular dichroism (CD) of the co-assembled structures reaches a maximum when just 25 % of the chiral dye are present in the mixture. The solid structures with the highest relative CD effect are achieved when the chiral dye is used solely as a director, rather than the structural component. The chiroptical data are further supported by selected spin-filtering measurements using mc-AFM. These findings provide a promising platform for investigating the relationship between the dissymmetry of a supramolecular structure and emerging material properties rather than a comparison between a chiral molecular structure and an achiral counterpart.     

Synthesis and properties of functional dyes with squaraine–naphthalene diimide hybrid structure

Naphthalene diimides (NDIs) are promising candidate for electron acceptors due to their low-lying HOMOs and LUMOs. The functinalization of soluble NDIs at the 2,6-position affects the absorption and electrochemical properties. In this study, NDI-based hybrid dyes NDI-SQ-A, B fused with squaraine chromophore were designed and synthesized in order to elucidate the effects of the substitution on their optical and electrochemical properties. These dyes were successfully synthesized by Stille coupling reactions using 3-stannylcyclobutenediones and brominated NDI derivative, followed by a condensation reaction. DFT calculation predicts that the present dyes adopt distorted structures coming from a steric hindrance between semisquaraine and NDI moieties. The hybrid dyes show low-lying LUMOs due to the introduction of electron-deficient NDI moiety and broad absorption spectra in the far-red region. The absorption spectra of their thin films were bathochromically shifted relative to those in solution, indicating that hybrid dyes formed J aggregates.     

混合溶剂对可录型光盘中吲哚类菁染料薄膜性能的影响

本文采用紫外可见光谱、FT-IR及AFM等手段,研究了混合溶剂对光盘记录介质吲哚类菁染料薄膜光学性能、稳定性和表面结构的影响.发现在不同混合溶剂下涂出的相同膜厚的染料薄膜,其光学性能和表面形貌都有很大的差异.不同的混合溶剂都存在一个最佳混合体积比,染料在此体积比下旋涂出膜的光学性能和表面形貌均优于单一溶剂下涂出的膜.对比不同混合溶剂涂出的膜的光学性质及AFM的观测结果,发现二丙酮醇与氯仿在等体积比混合、四氟丙醇与氯仿在7:3体积下混合时效果最好,易得到反射率高,表面较平整的染料薄膜.     

Formation and study of thin films oftert-butyl-substituted thiopyrylium dyes

The formation of thin films of symmetrical and asymmetrical thiopyrylium dyes, containingtert-butyl substituents, on glass supports was studied. The films were deposited by centrifugation of solutions of individual dyes or dye—polymer [poly(methyl methacrylate)] compositions. The dye: polymer ratios necessary for the formation of WORM recording layers based on these dyes were determined. The use of a polymeric matrix increases the film thickness and optical density but decreases its reflection power and does not allow crystallization of the dye on the support to be completely avoided. An increase in the number oftert-butyl groups in the dye molecule prevents crystallization of the recording layer in the case of symmetrical dye molecules, but does not prevent it for asymmetrical molecules. The data obtained were interpreted in terms of geometrical views on the interaction of dye molecules in thin layers. Translated fromIzestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1343–1349, July, 1998.     

A comparative study of the nonlinear optical properties of molecular J- and H-aggregates in thin films

A comparative study of the dispersion of nonlinear absorption in thin films of molecular J- and H-aggregates of polymethine dyes was performed with the use of the Z-scan (Z-scan technique) over the range 625–825 nm under conditions close to resonance absorption at nanosecond duration of excitation. The measurements were made on film samples of J- and H-aggregates prepared by spin-coating and having identical absorption spectra. The H- and J-aggregates were formed by the synthetic thioflavylium DT-3 and benzothiazole BTC18H dyes, respectively. It was found that the samples of different types of aggregates exhibit nonlinear susceptibility of the same order of magnitude with allowance for the width of exciton absorption peaks.     

Organic Polymeric and Non-Polymeric Materials with Large Optical Nonlinearities

Nonlinear optical properties are a sensitive probe of the electronic and solid-state structure of organic compounds and as a consequence find various applications in many areas of optoelectronics including optical communications, laser scanning and control functions, and integrated optics technology. Because of their strongly delocalized π electronic systems, polymeric and non-polymeric aromatic compounds show highly nonlinear optical effects. Nowadays, polymer chemists are able to tailor specific materials properties for various applications. Some organic substances with π electronic systems exhibit the largest known nonlinear coefficients, often considerably larger than those of the more conventional inorganic dielectrics and semiconductors, and thus show promise for thin-film fabrication, allowing the enormous function and cost advantages of integrated electronic circuitry. The electronic origins of nonlinear optical effects in organic π electronic systems are reviewed, with special emphasis being given to second-order nonlinear optical effects. Methods for measuring nonlinear optical responses are outlined, and the critical relationships of the propagation characteristics of light to observed nonlinear optical effects and to solid-state structure are discussed. Finally, the synthesis and characterization of organic crystals and polymer films with large second-order optical nonlinearities are summarized.     

Self-assembled electrooptic thin films with remarkably blue-shifted optical absorption based on an X-shaped chromophore

An "X-shaped" two-dimensional electrooptic (EO) chromophore with extended orthogonal conjugation was designed and synthesized. Self-assembled thin films of this chromophore were fabricated via layer-by-layer chemisorptive siloxane-based self-assembly. The films exhibit a dramatically blue-shifted optical maximum (325 nm) while maintaining a large EO response (chi33(2) approximately 232 pm/V at 1064 nm; r33 approximately 43 pm/V at 1550 nm).     

Polymer gel/organic dye complexes in aqueous salt solutions

The present work is devoted to the study of the complex formation of polymer gel with organic dye and their properties in the aqueous salt solutions. Two systems were studied: 1) polyelectrolyte gel based on poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and water soluble oppositely charged organic dyes (alizarin red S and catechol violet) and 2) organogel based on poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) and dithizone. The collapse of the polyelectrolyte gels in the presence of oppositely charged dyes together with the effective absorption of dyes was observed. The shrinking degree and the dye absorption by the gel depends on the dye concentration. In the case of PVCa gel in organic media the dye absorption takes place. The main attention has been concentrated on the study of the behaviour of gel/dye complex immersed in the salt solution if dye is the chelating ligand for metal ions. It was shown that polyelectrolyte gels generally form stable complexes with oppositely charged dyes. The behaviour of PVCa-dithizone-chloroform system was studied in AgNO₃ aqueous solution. The release of dithizone to the external aqueous solution of AgNO₃ reservoir is completely suppressed. Absorption spectra of gel/dye and gel/dye/metal ion systems were studied. It was shown that metal ions penetrate inside the gel phase and the dye/metal ion complexes form within the gel. The dependence of the optical density for the systems of gel/dye/metal ion on the salt concentration is observed.     

Organic dyes containing indolo[2,3-b]quinoxaline as a donor: synthesis,optical and photovoltaic properties

New organic dyes containing indolo[2,3-b]quinoxaline donor have been synthesized for application in dye sensitized solar cells as sensitizers. The dyes exhibited interesting optical properties tuneable by the nature of the conjugation bridge. Origin of the optical transitions in the dyes was corroborated by the TDDFT computations. The LUMO and HOMO of the dyes were found to be favourable for electron injection into the conduction band of TiO₂ and the regeneration of the dye by the redox shuttle in the electrolyte, respectively. Since the dyes exhibited solvent dependent absorption properties, DSSC were fabricated from two different dye bath solutions, DCM and acetonitrile/tert-butanol/dimethylsulphoxide mixture. The dyes adsorbed from the later bath solution led to better device performance owing to the comparatively less charge transfer resistance arising from the well-spaced dye packing. Among all dyes, a dye containing thiophene in the π-spacer exhibited the highest device efficiency.     

Absorption and emission spectroscopic characterization of some azo dyes and a diamino-maleonitrile dye

A linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopic characterization is carried out on three azo dyes (Reactive orange 1, Reactive violet 8, and Acidproof purplish red), and on N-(p-hydroxybenzylidene)-diamino-maleonitrile. Fluorescence quantum distributions, fluorescence quantum yields, and fluorescence lifetimes are measured. The saturable absorption is studied by nonlinear transmission measurements with intense picosecond laser pulses. The ground-state absorption recovery is studied by picosecond time-resolved pump and probe measurements. Absolute ground-state absorption cross-sections, excited-state absorption cross-sections, and dye concentrations are extracted from saturable absorption studies. The azo dyes have fluorescence lifetimes and ground-state absorption recovery times of around 2 ps and their excited-state absorption cross-sections are small (measured at 527 nm) making them good mode-locking dyes for picosecond and femtosecond lasers. The investigated diamino-maleonitrile dye exhibits sub-picosecond fluorescence lifetime and slow ground-state absorption recovery (>1 ns).     

High dispersion and fluorescence of anthracene doped in polyphenylsiloxane films

Phenylsilsesquioxane-diphenylsiloxane glass thick films doped with anthracene were prepared from homogeneous coating sols obtained from two different approaches. One approach consisted in incorporating the dye during the glass preparation (which implies the incorporation of the dye in an aqueous media). The doped-glass was further dissolved in the solvents mixture composed of cyclohexane and acetone. The other approach which is non-aqueous consisted simply in dissolving directly the preformed non-doped polyphenylsiloxane glass in the dye solutions. The stability of the organic-inorganic hybrid glass matrix in most organic solvents makes possible the incorporation of the dye without problems of miscibility and dispersion in the hybrid matrix. The coating was performed at room temperature using spin-coating technique prior to further heat-treatment. Crack-free and homogeneous films of high optical quality were obtained. The optical properties of the doped films based on their absorption and emission spectra were discussed owing the incorporation route of the dye. The results showed that the non-aqueous approach used to incorporate the dye minimizes the dye aggregation. This property associated to the preparation route permits to obtain optically active hybrid films loaded with high concentrations of anthracene (in the order of 10⁻² M) which enhance the fluorescence of the doped films. The hybrid doped-films obtained represent therefore a tremendous potential for applications in the field of optics and photonics including the development of new nonlinear optical materials. Bouzid Menaa and Masahide Takahashi both the author contributed equally.