Two-photon absorption in quadrupolar pi-conjugated molecules: influence of the nature of the conjugated bridge and the donor-acceptor separation

Quadrupolar-type substitution of pi-conjugated chromophores with donor and acceptor groups has been shown to increase their two-photon absorption (TPA) response by up to two orders of magnitude. Here, we apply highly correlated quantum-chemical calculations to evaluate the impact of the nature of conjugated bridge and the charge-transfer distance on that enhancement. We compare chromophores with phenylenevinylene-, thienylenevinylene-, polyene-, and indenofluorene-type backbones substituted by dimethylamino and cyano groups. In all compounds, we find a strongly TPA-active A(g) state (either 2A(g) or 3A(g)) in the low-energy region, as well as a higher lying TPA-active state (mA(g)) at close to twice the energy of the lowest lying one-photon allowed state; the smaller energy detuning in the mA(g) states results in very large TPA cross sections delta. We also investigate the influence of the degree of ground-state polarization on TPA. Independent of the nature of the backbone and the donor-acceptor separation, delta displays the same qualitative evolution with a maximum before the cyanine-like limit; the highest TPA cross sections are calculated for distirylbenzene- and polyene-based systems.     

Determination of molecular orientation distribution of a stable paramagnetic probe in oriented 4-cyano-4’-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-pentylbiphenyl

The molecular orientation distribution function of a stable radical 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl in magnetic-field oriented 4-cyano-4’-n-pentylbiphenyl was determined from the angular dependence of the ESR spectra. The preferred molecular orientation of radical species in the liquid crystal matrix was determined. The temperature evolution of the orientation distribution function was studied.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 190–195, January, 2005.     

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscopy.

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy is presented as a new nonlinear optical technique. The combination of vibrational spectroscopy and microscopy allows highly sensitive investigations of unlabelled samples. CARS is an ideal tool for studying a broad variety of samples. The main drawback of the technique is its non-zero-background nature, which implies that the signal has to be detected against a nonresonant background. The need to solve this problem is reflected in the rapid technological developments that have been observed during the last decade. Recent results show that CARS microscopy has the potential to become an important complementary technique that can be used with other well-established microscopic methods. Although it has some limitations, it offers unique access to many problems that cannot be tackled with conventional techniques. For this reason, it can be expected that the impressive growth of the field will continue.     

2-苯基苯并咪唑衍生物非线性光学性质的从头算研究

采用HF／6-31G^*方法优化分子构型，在此基础上用CPHF方法系统地研究了多种基团取代的2-苯基苯并咪唑衍生物的二阶非线性光学系数βvec，并对βvdc的影响因素进行了探讨，为进一步设计综合性能优良的有机非线性光学材料提供理论指导．     

Preparation and Characterization of N-4-Nitrophenyl-L-prolinol Nanocrystals in Sol-Gel Matrices

Organic nanocrystals of N-4-nitrophenyl-l-prolinol (NPP) have been grown in sol-gel matrices prepared from silicon alkoxide precursors. Our process is based on the control of the nucleation and growth kinetics of the dye in the pores of dense gels. Nanocomposites gel-glasses are obtained with a high optical quality due to the small size of the nanocrystals (10-20 nm). Differential scanning calorimetry experiments evidenced clearly the melting point of NPP nanocrystals, which is registered 51°C above that of NPP powder. Micro-Raman and solid state NMR spectroscopies allowed us to demonstrate that our nanocrystallization process does not chemically modify NPP molecules. We specified also the nature of interactions existing between the NPP nanocrystals and the xerogels. These strong interactions, which explain the important increase of the melting point of the nanocrystals in comparison to the NPP powder, are hydrogen bonds between nitro groups of NPP and uncondensed silanol functions of the silicate network.     

Progress on phthalocyanine-conjugated Ag and Au nanoparticles: Synthesis,characterization, and photo-physicochemical properties

Phthalocyanine (Pc) complexes are an important class of dyes with numerous (e.g., biological, photophysical, and analytical) applications. Among the methods used to improve the properties of these complexes, one should mention the introduction of different substituents, variation of the central metal ion, ligand exchange, and conjugation to nanomaterials (e.g., carbon-based nanomaterials and metal nanoparticles (NPs)). This work briefly reviews Pc complex conjugation to Ag and Au NPs, highlights the different NP shapes, and discusses the diversity of conjugation approaches. Moreover, the use of UV–Vis spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to characterize Pc-NP hybrids is summarized. The effect of conjugation on Pc photo-physicochemical properties (fluorescence, singlet oxygen generation, triplet state formation, and optical limiting behavior) is discussed, and future perspectives for the synthesis and applications of new hybrids are provided.     

Doped Sol-Gel Films for Silica-on-Silicon Photonic Components

Further expansion of optical communication systems depends strongly on the development of cheap component technologies for functions such as switching, demultiplexing and amplification. Silica-on-silicon is increasingly recognised as the best approach to low cost integrated optics for such applications, but so far the functionality is limited. The purpose of NODES, a basic research collaboration sponsored by the European Union under the programme ESPRIT, has been to examine the application of sol-gel to a highly functional silica-on-silicon technology. In particular, the project has investigated film processing and characterisation, rare-earth doping for amplification, and semiconductor nanocrystallite doping for nonlinear functions. This paper presents the background and context to this work, summarises the technical results obtained, and discusses requirements and challenges for successful application of sol-gel in photonics.     

The Discrete Approximation of Continuous-state Nonlinear Branching Processes in Lévy Random Environments北大核心CSCD

In this paper, we establish the discrete approximation of continuous-state nonlinear branching processes in Lévy random environments by using tightness and convergence sequence in infinite dimensional product space via stochastic differential equations. Taking α-stable branching as an example, the conditions which are given to discretize continuous-state nonlinear branching processes in Lévy random environments are verified. © 2022 Chinese Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.     

带五次项的非线性Schrödinger方程的守恒差分格式

本文研究带有五次项的非线性Schrödinger方程初边值问题的有限差分法,其中方程中二阶偏导数项的系数、五次项的系数及初值满足下面的条件（1.6）.针对此问题,我们研究了一个守恒差分格式,在条件（1.6）下,差分解的$L^{\infty}$模先验估计被得到.在此基础上,我们得到了差分解最优$L^2$模的误差估计.     

Decay rates of energy of the 1D damped original nonlinear wave equation

We consider the decay rate of energy of the 1D damped original nonlinear wave equation. We first construct a new energy function. Then, employing the perturbed energy method and the generalized Young’s inequality, we prove that, with a general growth assumption on the nonlinear damping force near the origin, the decay rate of energy is governed by a dissipative ordinary differential equation. This allows us to recover the classical exponential, polynomial, or logarithmic decay rate for the linear, polynomial or exponentially degenerating damping force near the origin, respectively. Unlike the linear wave equation, the exponential decay rate constant depends on the initial data, due to the nonlinearity.