Nonlinear optical properties of methyl red under CW irradiation

doi:10.1016/j.optlastec.2015.06.031

Optics & Laser Technology

Volume 75, December 2015, Pages 132-137

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2015.06.031 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Methyl red (MR) doped PMMA is investigated by using Z-scan at different wavelengths.
•
n₂ and $Δ n$ are obtained under different scanning speed at 473 nm and 532 nm.
•
We compare the results of CW Z-scan and pulse Z-scan at 532 nm.
•
The cumulative thermal effect has great influence to the NLO properties of MR.

Abstract

Organic materials have wide potential application in nonlinear optical devices. The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of methyl red (MR) doped polymethyl methacrylate (MR-PMMA) are investigated under CW laser irradiation at 473 nm, 532 nm and 632.8 nm, respectively. By combining Kramers–Kronig (K–K) relation and CW Z-scan technique, the effective refractive index n₂ and the change of refractive index $Δ n$ are obtained under different scanning speed at 473 nm and 532 nm. $Δ n$ is positive at 473 nm, while $Δ n$ is negative at 532 nm. The experimental result is consistent with that of K–K relation. With the scanning speed decreasing, the NLO properties of MR-PMMA are enhanced. With different laser powers at 632.8 nm, MR-PMMA has only nonlinear absorption rather than nonlinear refraction. Meanwhile, the sample is investigated under pulse laser irradiation at 532 nm. Through the comparison of results of CW Z-scan and pulse Z-scan, the influence of the cumulative thermal effect on NLO properties of material is investigated. The results indicate that, under CW irradiation near the absorption peak wavelength, the cumulative thermal effect has great influence to the NLO properties of MR-PMMA.

Introduction

The organic photochromic materials have the advantage that the optical properties will change under the irradiation of light with a certain wavelength instead of external electric field and magnetic field. Hence the materials can be used to process optical signal [1]. Under CW irradiation, organic photochromic materials have the wide potential application in optoelectronic field. For example, ethyl red doped polymer film has potential application in optical switching [2], and disperse red doped polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) constitutes a demonstrator of an optically controlled integrated optical device [3].

Methyl red (MR) is an azobenzene organic photochromic material [4]. The structure character of azobenzene is double-bond N=N between the two phenyls [5]. Because the structure has active photochemical property, azobenzene can generate trans and cis isomerization easily by light irradiation, which is so-called photoisomerization. Some azobenzene studies have shown that the trans-cis configuration changes are an effective mechanism for creating large optical nonlinearities [6], which benefits application development. However under CW irradiation, the cumulative thermal effect has powerful influence on NLO properties of materials [6]. Hence, the influence of the cumulative thermal effect on NLO properties of materials is worthy of further investigations for potential applications. In this paper, we use CW Z-scan to investigate the influence at 473 nm and 532 nm under different scanning speed and at 632.8 nm with different laser powers. Through the comparison of results of CW Z-scan and pulse Z-scan at 532 nm, the order of magnitudes of the influence is investigated.

Section snippets

Experiment

The sample, MR-doped PMMA thin film, is prepared as follows: MR and PMMA were dissolved in cyclohexanone to form a uniform solution. Subsequently, the solution was stirred well for two hours using a magnetic stirrer. The mixed solution was dried into the viscous solution at room temperature. The viscous solution was spread by spin-coating on a glass slide. Last step, the sample was dried in an oven for 10 h. In the sample, MR is dominant to occur nonlinear effect, and the nonlinear effect of

Results and discussion

The linear absorption spectra of the sample A, at steady state and excited state, are shown in Fig. 4. The peak of the measured absorption spectrum is located at 497 nm.

K–K relation describes the spectral dependence of the absorption and the change of refractive index $Δ n_{k}$ [14]. For this reason, we utilize the K–K relation to calculate $Δ n_{k}$ of the sample at various wavelengths through the steady-state and excited-state absorption spectra which are excited by 473 and 532 nm CW laser. The $Δ n_{k}$ can be

Conclusion

Based on CW Z-scan technique, the normalized nonlinear refraction and absorption curves are determined at 473 nm, 532 nm and 632.8 nm respectively. The result of Z-scan indicates that MR-PMMA has a larger optical nonlinearity under CW irradiation compared with MR-PMMA under pulse irradiation: $n_{2}$ of MR-PMMA is about $- 1.031 \times 10^{- 9} m^{2} W^{- 1}$ under 532 nm CW irradiation, while MR-PMMA has $n_{2} = - 2.909 \times 10^{- 13} m^{2} W^{- 1}$ under 532 nm pulse irradiation. The sign of $Δ n$ measured by the Z-scan technique is consistent with the

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Chinese National Key Basic Research Special Fund (Grant 2011CB922003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 61475078 and 61405097), the Science and Technology Program of Tianjin (Grants 15JCQNJC02300 and 15JCQNJC02600) and The International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (Grant 2013DFA51430).

References (18)

T. Xu et al.
All-optical switching characteristics of ethyl red doped polymer film
Opt. Mater.
(2008)
M.H. Majles Ara et al.
Non-linear optical properties of silver nanoparticles prepared by hydrogen reduction method
Opt. Commun.
(2010)
M. Kyoung et al.
Nonlinear absorption and refractive index measurements of silver nanorods by the Z-scan technique
Opt. Commun.
(1999)
K. Sathiyamoorthy et al.
Low power optical limiting in ClAl-Phthalocyanine due to self defocusing and self phase modulation effects
Opt. Mater.
(2008)
D.M. Eigler et al.
An atomic switch realized with the scanning tunneling microscope
Nature
(1991)
A. Rodríguez et al.
Optical control of an integrated interferometer using a photochromic polymer
Appl. Phys. Lett.
(2001)
C.S. Paik et al.
Photochemical and thermal isomerization of azoaromatic residues in the side chains and the backbone of polymers in bulk
Macromolecules
(1972)
G. Sudesh Kumar et al.
Photochemistry of azobenzene-containing polymers
Chem. Rev.
(1989)
D.N. Christodoulides et al.
Nonlinear refraction and absorption mechanisms and magnitudes
Adv. Opt. Photonics
(2010)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (10)

Laguerre–Gaussian vortex beam for reduced thermal effects in nonlinear optical studies
2023, Optics Communications
Interaction of an intense laser beam with a material induces many thermal effects. In this work, thermo-optic effects induced by fundamental Gaussian and Laguerre–Gaussian vortex (LGV) laser beams in a sample in nonlinear optical (NLO) experiments are compared and their impact on the accuracy of determining the nonlinear susceptibility is examined. A solution of saturable absorber dye IR 26 in dichloroethane with the technique of z-scan to determine its third order nonlinear susceptibility was used as a model system. The LGV beams were generated by passing the Hermite–Gaussian beams from an Ar-ion laser through a cylindrical lens mode converter. Pump–probe setup was used to study the thermo-optic effects. Experiments and simulations suggest that the LGV beam is advantageous to reduce the thermal effects.
Determination of the optical constants, nonlinear optical parameters and threshold limiting of methyl red-epoxy resin film
2021, Physica B: Condensed Matter
Citation Excerpt :
Therefore, the sample that has a greater absorption will have a high nonlinear refractive index because the absorbed energy will be converted into heat. This explains why the value of the nonlinear refractive index of the MRER film is less than that of the MR-PMMA film [61] and the methyl red in number of solvents [82]. But it should be noted here that the use of epoxy resin as a host for a dye, methyl red, is better than the use of PMMA, although the mechanical properties of epoxy resins and PMMA are similar, but the epoxy has a better stability, more heat tolerant, best resists environmental conditions especially moisture, and light absorption range more than PMMA [83].
A methyl red-epoxy resin film is prepared on a glass substrate. The film linear optical properties are studied using the experimentally obtained absorbance and transmittance spectra. The nonlinear optical properties are obtained via the linear measurements and the Z-scan technique. Based on the nonlinear properties, the optical limiting property of the film is investigated. The sample is proven to possess the properties of an optical limiter at the wavelength of 473 nm, as the threshold limiting value of the film is equal to 13.5 mW. Also, the threshold limiting value of the film is compared to the values for materials characterized by having a good thresholds limiting value, and from comparison, it appear that the prepared film in this study has better threshold limiting value than that possessed by these materials.
Formation and temporal evolution of diffraction ring patterns in a newly prepared dihydropyridone
2019, Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
A dihydropyridone has been prepared from butylamine and curcumin. A theoretical DFT study was conducted to determine the most stable conformer of the studied molecule (among three conformers) using the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. This is assisted by the prediction of the ¹³C NMR chemical shifts of the conformers which then correlated with the observed ¹³C NMR chemical shifts. A TD-DFT study was conducted to analyze the electronic spectrum of the most stable conformer in order to determine the transitions responsible for the longer band in the electronic spectrum of the molecule. As well the frontier orbitals in the most stable conformer were analyzed to establish the density of donor and acceptor sites in the molecule that may be responsible for the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of the studied molecule. Diffraction ring patterns were observed as a result of the use of visible, 473 nm, low power single mode laser beam traversed a thin cell containing solution of dihydropyridone. The nonlinear refractive index, n₂, was determined based on the number of diffraction rings per a pattern observed and by the Z-scan technique and both results are compared. The upward convection heat effect appears to be responsible for the asymmetries observed in the diffraction ring patterns. The use of convergent and divergent laser beams has led to new types of diffraction ring patterns. Temporal evolution of each diffraction ring patterns was registered. The diffraction ring patterns experimentally obtained are numerically calculated using the Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction integral, with good qualitative and reasonable quantitative agreements.
Laser damage threshold, hardness and third order non-linear optical analysis of potassium dihydrogen phosphate with sodium chloride
2019, Chemical Data Collections
z-scan technique was used to investigate the non-linear optical properties of Potassium dihydrogen phosphate doping sodium chloride (PDPSC) were grown slow evaporation solution growth technique at room temperature. The lattice parameters were calculated from single x-ray diffraction. Laser damage threshold value was found to be 13.48 GW/cm². The Vickers microhardness test was carried out on the grown crystals and there by Vickers hardness number (H_v), work hardening coefficient (n), yield strength (σ_y), stiffness constant C₁₁ were calculated. The z-scan technique has been employed to determine the third order nonlinear optical (TONLO) nature of PDPSC crystal at 532 nm. The third order nonlinear optical linear absorption coefficient (α), Nonlinear refractive index (n₂), Nonlinear absorption coefficient (β), Real part of the third-order susceptibility [Re (χ^|3|)], Imaginary part of the third-order susceptibility [Im (χ^|3|)] and Third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility (χ³) has been calculated using the Z-scan data.
Optical nonlinearities of alcoholic liquids under high-repetition-rate femtosecond lasers by single beam time-resolved eclipsed Z-scan
2019, Optics and Laser Technology
Citation Excerpt :
Recently, a set-up that the open and closed Z-scan can be obtained simultaneously using CCD was presented by Valligatla et al. but it maybe require a high-performance CCD to ensure the sensitivity [25]. These versatile Z-scan techniques pave the way to the observation of NLO properties for advanced optical materials, including graphene [26], carbon nanotube [27,28], quantum dots [29], organic molecular [30–34], functionalized nano-material [35–38], etc., which present considerable potential in the application of photonics devices. In this paper, the single beam time-resolved Z-scan is combined with the eclipse Z-scan so that the higher sensitive time-resolved measurement of optical nonlinearity can be realized.
The experiments and applications of nonlinear optical liquids are often complicated by the presence and competition of the fast self-focusing and slow self-defocusing effects. As a result, the time-resolved measurements of liquids nonlinearities are very crucial. In this work, the temporal evolution of optical nonlinearities due to the accumulation of thermal effect for alcoholic liquids—frequently adpoted as the solvent of many organic nonlinear molecules and used in many nonlinear optical experiments—under high-repetition-rate femtosecond lasers is demonstrated using single beam time-resolved eclipsed Z-scan, that is, the combination of single beam time-resolved Z-scan and eclipsed Z-scan methods. The pure self-focusing nonlinearities arising from molecular reorientation of alcoholic liquids can be precisely extracted by a simple data processing. It can be concluded that the characteristic time of the accumulation of thermal nonlinear optical effects is 479.28 and 601.62 μs, and the fast self-focusing effects will be completely masked by the thermal nonlinear optical effects after t = 17.35 and 22.25 μs of laser irradiation for methanol and ethanol, respectively. The “combined” Z-scan technique can also have an extensive application for other advanced materials.
Nonlinear optical study of 1-(carboxymethyl)-8-hydroxyquinolin-1-ium chloride and 1-(carboxymethyl)quinolin-1-ium chloride salts by Z-scan technique
2016, Optics and Laser Technology
Citation Excerpt :
A large number of organic materials have been investigated for optical limiting applications, such as: chalcones and their derivatives [6], hydroxyquinolinium derivatives [7], and fullerenes [8,9]. A CW laser irradiation has been used as light sources to study the nonlinear optical properties of wide range of nonlinear optical materials including carbon nanotubes, polyaniline, methyl blue dye, and methyl red [10–13]. The popular z-scan technique introduced by Sheik-Bahae et al. [14,15] is the simplest method to determine both nonlinear absorption (NLA) and nonlinear refractive index (NLR).
Z-scan technique was used to investigate the nonlinear optical properties of 1-(carboxymethyl)-8-hydroxyquinolin-1-ium chloride and 1-(carboxymethyl)quinolin-1-ium chloride salts. The new 1-(carboxymethyl)-8-hydroxyquinolin-1-ium chloride and 1-(carboxymethyl)quinolin-1-ium chloride salts were synthesized and characterized using UV–visible, FTIR and NMR measurements and the characterization spectra confirm the expected molecular structure of the prepared salts. Measurements were performed with a CW Diode laser at 635 nm wavelength and 26 mW power. The nonlinear optical absorption coefficient (β) and nonlinear refractive index (n₂) of the 1-(carboxymethyl)-8-hydroxyquinolin-1-ium chloride was affected by OH group. The excited-state absorption cross sections (σ_ex) and the ground -state absorption cross sections (σ_g) were calculated for the two studied compounds. It was found that the σ_ex is larger than the σ_g, indicating that the reverse saturable absorption mechanism (RSA) is the dominating mechanism for the observed absorption nonlinearities.
Our results suggest that this material should be considered as a promising candidate for future optical devices applications.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Nonlinear optical properties of methyl red under CW irradiation

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Experiment

Results and discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Opt. Mater.

Opt. Commun.

Opt. Commun.

Opt. Mater.

An atomic switch realized with the scanning tunneling microscope

Nature

Optical control of an integrated interferometer using a photochromic polymer

Appl. Phys. Lett.

Photochemical and thermal isomerization of azoaromatic residues in the side chains and the backbone of polymers in bulk

Macromolecules

Photochemistry of azobenzene-containing polymers

Chem. Rev.

Nonlinear refraction and absorption mechanisms and magnitudes

Adv. Opt. Photonics