Second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility in chalcone-group crystalline molecular compounds

A study is reported of the second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility in polycrystalline molecular materials of the chalcone group made by second-harmonic generation at a wavelength of 1.06 μm. Some of the compounds studied exhibit a high nonlinear activity and are transparent in the blue region of the spectrum. The measured macroscopic nonlinear polarizability χ ² was compared with the calculated values of β, the second-order molecular polarizability tensor. The high nonlinear optical polarizability observed in some chalcone compounds is shown to be related to crystal symmetry type. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 2084–2087 (November 1999)