Investigation of third-order nonlinear and optical power limiting properties of terphenyl derivatives

• A series of new chalcones containing terphenyl as a core and with different functional groups has been successfully synthesized.
• Third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility is of the order of 10–13 esu.
• Results reveal that chalcones, exhibits strong optical power limiting effect due to large NLA.
• Relations between molecular structure and nonlinear optical properties were discussed.

A series of new chalcones containing terphenyl as a core and with different functional groups has been successfully synthesized by Claisen–Schmidt condensation method in search of new nonlinear optical (NLO) materials. Molecular structural characterization for the compounds was achieved by FTIR and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The third-order NLO absorption and refraction coefficients were simultaneously determined by Z-scan technique. The measurements were performed at 532 nm with 7 ns laser pulses using a Nd:YAG laser in solution form. The Z-scan experiments reveal that the compounds exhibit strong nonlinear refraction coefficient of the order 10–11 esu and the molecular two photon absorption cross section is 10–46 cm4 s/photon. The results also show that the structures of the compounds have great impact on NLO properties. The compounds show optical power limiting behavior due to two-photon absorption (TPA).