Optical studies on picoseconds response of optical switching 2-{3-[2-(3-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl)vinyl]-5,5-dimethylcyclo-hex-2-en-1-ylidene}malononitrile organic NLO material

An organic push-pull chromophores 2-{3-[2-(3-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl)vinyl]-5,5-dimethylcyclo-hex-2-en-1-ylidene}malononitrile(MOT2) was synthesized. The third order nonlinear optical property of MOT2 crystal was studied by using Z-scan technique with He-Ne laser (632.8 nm). The magnitude of nonlinear refractive index (n(2)), nonlinear absorption (beta) and third order nonlinear susceptibility (chi(3)) have found to be in the range of 10(-14) m(2)/W, 10(-7) m/W and 10(-8) esu respectively. The multiphoton absorption and self defocusing effect were observed in z-scan open and closed aperture methods respectively. The response time of MOT2 crystal has found to be in the order of picoseconds, which is the essential requirement for the fabrication of optical switching. The optical transparency of MOT2 crystal was studied using UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy and the reflectance, optical band gap (2.159ev), extinction coefficient, optical conductivity were calculated. The refractive index of MOT2 crystal was measured using Abbe's refractometer and it is found to be 1.661. Photoluminescence study was carried out using Xenon lamp in a wavelength range of 450-700 nm. Laser optical damage threshold of MOT2 crystal was calculated using pulsed Nd-YAG laser of 1064 nm repetition rate of 10 ns. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.