Nonlinear optical properties of CNHP4 nanofibers: Molecular dipole orientations and two photon absorption cross-sections

Polarized second harmonic measurements are used to determine the in- and out-of plane orientations of molecular dipoles in optical active, elongated, surface bound nanoaggregates. As a specific example, nonlinear optical active nanofibers grown from CNHP4 molecular dipoles on muscovite mica are investigated. The orientation of the dipoles relative to the substrate is found to be 7 ± 5°, whereas that of the dipoles relative to the long nanofiber axes is ± 13 ± 5°. Following 780 nm femtosecond laser excitation, the two photon action potential ησ2 for CNHP4 is determined to be 4.7 × 10−54 cm4 s/photon. For comparison, ησ2 for para-hexaphenylene nanofibers is measured to be 12 × 10−54 cm4 s/photon.