Saturable absorption and two-photon absorption of 1,2,5-thiadiazolo[3,4-g]quinoxaline based derivatives with near-infrared fluorescence

Organic molecules with near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence are extremely interesting for the applications in nonlinear optical devices and bioimaging. However, such kind of materials have been relatively rarely studied. In this work, the nonlinear optical properties of 1,2,5-thiadiazolo[3,4-g]quinoxaline based derivatives with NIR fluorescence emission have been investigated for the first time. Under the excitation of femtosecond pulses at 532 nm, the chromophore with dithienyl as donor (TQ2) presents saturable absorption (SA) behavior, while no SA has been observed in the derivative with biphenyl (TQ1) as donor. Moreover, TQ2 exhibits much larger two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-sections with strong NIR fluorescence in the second biological window. The larger nonlinear optical properties of TQ2 is due to the introduction of stronger electron-donating group (dithienyl) and the resultant enhanced intramolecular charge transfer properties. At the end, TPA based optical limiting behaviors of the molecules are demonstrated in THF solutions, thanks to their large solubility and strong TPA.