Enhanced two-photon absorption of organic chromophores: theoretical and experimental assessments

Francesca Terenziani (1) , Claudine Katan (2) , Ekaterina Badaeva (3, 4) , Sergei Tretiak (4, 5) , Mireille Blanchard-Desce (2)

1 MMAA - Molecular Materials for Advanced Applications
2 CPM - Chimie et Photonique Moléculaires
3 University of Washington [Seattle]
4 LANL - Los Alamos National Laboratory
5 LANL - Theorical Division

Functional organic materials with enhanced two-photon absorption (TPA) lead to new technologies in the fields of chemistry, biology, and photonics. In this article we review experimental and theoretical methodologies allowing detailed investigation and analysis of TPA properties of organic chromophores. This includes femtosecond two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) experimental setups and quantum-chemical methodologies based on time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). We thoroughly analyze physical phenomena and trends leading to large TPA responses of a few series of model chromophores focusing on the effects of symmetric and asymmetric donor/acceptor substitution and branching.

Keywords: Two-photon absorption (TPA); Nonlinear Optics; Chromophores; time-dependent Density Functional theory (TD-DFT)

Domains: Theoretical and/or physical chemistry; Organic chemistry

Francesca Terenziani, Claudine Katan, Ekaterina Badaeva, Sergei Tretiak, Mireille Blanchard-Desce. Enhanced two-photon absorption of organic chromophores: theoretical and experimental assessments. Advanced Materials, 2008, 20 (24), pp.4641. ⟨10.1002/adma.200800402⟩. ⟨hal-00490264⟩