Synthesis, characterization and third-order nonlinear optical properties of bromo[tri-α-(2,4-dimethyl-3-pentyloxy) subphthalocyanine]boron complex

A new subphthalocyanine complex, bromo[tri-alpha-(2,4-dimethyl-3-pentyloxy)subphthalocyanie]boron, has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, MALDI-TOF-MS, FT-IR and UV-vis spectroscopy. Its third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties in ethanol solution have been studied by Z-scan technique using 8 ns laser pulses at 532 nm. The results reveal that the new complex exhibits strong NLO absorption effect (alpha(2) = 3.7 x 10(-10) in W-1) and self-focusing refractive performance (n(2) = 2.1 X 10(-17) m(2) W-1). The effective third-order NLO susceptibility (chi((3))) and the molecular second-order hyperpolarizability (gamma) value were calculated to be 1.12 x 10(-11) and similar to 6.8 x 10(-28) esu, respectively. All of the values are comparable to those of the reported good NLO materials. In addition, the effects of cone-shaped molecular structure and axially heavy-atom (Br) substitution on third-order NLO properties are discussed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.