NONLINEAR OPTICAL STUDIES OF NICKEL DITHIOLENE COMPLEXES

The third-order optical non-linearity, chi(3), linear absorption coefficient, alpha, and the ratio of the real to imaginary parts of chi(3) have been measured at 1.06-mu-m for a range of nickel dithiolene complexes with absorption bands between 0.77 and 1.06-mu-m. From these data the non-linear refractive index, n2, and the device-based figure of merit, W (= DELTA-n(sat)/alpha-lambda), were calculated. W was found to exceed 2 for materials with absorption maxima below 0.8-0.85-mu-m. The non-linear refractive index of a poly(methyl methacrylate) host doped with 8 x 10(19) molecules cm-3 of a nickel dithiolene was also measured and found to be nearly 2 x 10(-9) cm2 KW-1.