Nonlinear optical studies of 1-3-diaryl-propenones containing 4-methylthiophenyl moieties

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of chalcone derivatives have been studied using the single beam Z-scan technique. The dependence of χ(3) on different donor and acceptor type substituents demonstrates the electronic nonlinearity of compounds. The largest value of nonlinear refractive index, n2, measured for a high electron donor substituted molecule is −2.033 × 10−11 esu. These molecules exhibit a strong two-photon absorption and interesting optical limiting of nanosecond laser pulses at 532 nm.