Crystal growth and third order NLO properties of a photonic material

•Newely synthesized non-linear chalcone derivative.•Third order non-linearity confirmation by Z-scan.•Optical limiting behavior with good limiting threshold value (TH).•Structure-property relation.•Theoretical study using Mopac.

Organic compound 1-(4-bromophenyl)-3-(4-N, N dimethylaminophenyl) prop-2-en-1-one [BDPP] was synthesized using Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction method. Single crystals were grown using slow evaporation solution growth technique. The FTIR study was carried out for structural confirmation. The UV–Visible spectrum reveals that the crystal is transparent in the entire visible region and absorption takes place in the UV-region. Third order non-linearity has been explored using Z-scan technique. The material exhibits non-linear absorption which can be attributed to reverse saturable absorption. This study also exploits the optical limiting behavior of the material. The theoretical study using Mopac confirms the non-linearity of the compound at the molecular level. The structural parameters were determined by using single crystal XRD. The thermal study confirms the good thermal stability of the material.