Premium
Second‐Order Nonlinear Optical Switch of a New Hydrogen‐Bonded Supramolecular Crystal with a High Laser‐Induced Damage Threshold
Author(s) -
Sun Zhihua,
Li Shenhui,
Zhang Shuquan,
Deng Feng,
Hong Maochun,
Luo Junhua
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
advanced optical materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.89
H-Index - 91
ISSN - 2195-1071
DOI - 10.1002/adom.201400301
Subject(s) - materials science , supramolecular chemistry , molecular switch , laser , photonics , modulation (music) , optoelectronics , optical switch , coupling (piping) , nonlinear optical , chemical physics , nonlinear optics , crystal engineering , crystal (programming language) , nonlinear system , nanotechnology , optics , crystal structure , molecule , crystallography , composite material , chemistry , philosophy , physics , organic chemistry , programming language , quantum mechanics , computer science , aesthetics
Organic nonlinear optical (NLO) materials are anticipated as the competitive successors to inorganic compounds in the highly controllable photonic devices. Here, a new supramolecular crystal, bis(imidazolium hydrochlorate) dihydrate 18‐crown‐6 ( 1 ), behaves as a potential modulator of quadratic NLO responses. It is found that ( 1) possesses a superior NLO switching‐contrast of up to ∼12, a remarkable switching reversibility, and a quite high laser‐induced damage threshold (up to ∼8.9 GW/cm 2 ), which may guarantee its device application. In addition, mechanism studies reveal that both the freezing of thermally activated molecular vibrations and atomic displacements are greatly contributive to its NLO switching. Such an exceptional coupling in ( 1) is distinguishing from the prevenient order–disorder transition and much superior to the chemical changes of other NLO switches. It is believed that the findings provide a concrete example of a solid‐state NLO switch and will urge further development of these desirable devices, as well as to establish new design strategies.