Synthesis, z-scan and degenerate four wave mixing characterization of certain functionalized photosensitive polyesters containing ortho-hydroxyazo chromophores

The preparation and NLO characterization of photosensitive polyesters containing azoaromatic residues in the molecular backbone, functionalized with orthohydroxy chromophores is presented. Samples were studied for its UV–vis absorption, FT-IR and intensity dependent nonlinear absorption properties. Nonlinear characterization was carried out with z-scan using frequency doubled, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm. The closed aperture z-scan spectra reveal the self defocusing effects of the samples with negative nonlinearity coefficient (n2) showing values as high as −1.28 × 10−10 (esu) for certain samples and the corresponding third order susceptibility coefficient of the order of 29.9 × 10−12 (esu). Degenerate four wave mixing technique was employed to substantiate the findings. The numerical fits show that the molecules exhibit reverse saturable absorption. A study of beam fluence dependence of nonlinear absorption coefficient (βeff) has been presented. All phenomena indicate that molecules are reverse saturable absorbers whose optical limiting property gets enhanced with increasing conjugation length.