All‐Optical Switching and Two‐States Light‐Controlled Coherent‐Incoherent Random Lasing in a Thiophene‐Based Donor‐Acceptor System

Abstract

We describe herein the synthesis and characterization of a thiophene-based donor-acceptor system, namely (E)-2-(4-nitrostyryl)-5-phenylthiophene (Th-pNO ), which was prepared under Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons conditions. The UV/Vis absorption bands, including the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) band, were fully assigned using DFT and TD-DFT computations. The results of both efficient third-order nonlinear optical properties and light-amplification phenomena are presented. Investigations of photoinduced birefringence (PIB) in optical Kerr effect (OKE) experiments showed a great potential for this particular compound as an efficient, fully reversible, and fast optical switch. Time constants for the observed trans-cis-trans molecular transitions are in the range of microseconds and give a competitive experimental result for the well-known and exploited azobenzene derivatives. Random lasing (RL) investigations confirmed that this organic system is potentially useful to achieve strong light enhancement, observed as a multimode lasing action. Both RL and OKE measurements indicate that this material is a representative of thiophene derivatives, which can be utilized to fabricate fast all-optical switches or random lasers (light amplifiers).

Multifunctional Oxazolone Derivative as an Optical Amplifier, Generator, and Modulator

“…Estimated time constant values in both approaches are in a good agreement with their equivalents for previously cited low-molecular NLO active systems, as well as the photochromic polymers. 22 , 29 , 104 − 107 Finally, the third-order susceptibility parameter was estimated at 2.3 × 10 –10 (m/V) 2 . Comparing this parameter with the one quoted earlier, it can be stated that the fourth-order NLO tensor is similar to the thiophenes (χ (3) = 2.4 × 10 –10 (m/V) 2 ) or pyrazolines (χ (3) = 1.8 × 10 –11 (m/V) 2 ), respectively.…”

“…Then, a low-molecular compound acts as the active component, and its properties give the final multiple material functionality. 22 There are many examples of such working organic systems. Interestingly, in the field of spectroscopy and nonlinear optics, such OM utilization was observed recently.…”

Deep‐Blue Thiophene‐Based Steric Oligomers as a Low‐Threshold Laser Gain and Host Material

“…[ 12,23,38–41 ] More importantly, intermolecular interaction, the heavy atom effect of sulfur, and photo‐oxidation result in relatively low PL quantum yield (PLQY) in solid state, which is undesirable for low‐cost optoelectronic devices, especially for organic lasers and organic light‐emitting diodes. [ 23,42–47 ] Interestingly, construction of Th‐based p‐n fluorophore is an effective strategy to overcome these problems via tuning energy level (highest occupied molecular orbital [HOMO] level), specifically defined as combination of the Th moieties with other conjugated monomers with lower‐lying HOMOs. [ 28,34,48,49 ] Meanwhile, as a typical conjugated segment, combining fluorene and Th units is the fact that fluorene segment shows intrinsic high luminescence efficiency in the blue spectral region.…”

Two‐photon excited lasing of Coumarin 307 for lysozyme amyloid fibrils detection

“…Lasing or stimulated emission (SE) is attracting much attention in fluorescence‐based detection methodology because it is considered to be more sensitive than standard fluorescence . In the process of light amplification the observed response can be influenced by changes of photons' path lengths inside the medium as they undergo multiple scattering events . In consequence, lasing spectra become sensitive to self‐aggregation of emitting molecules or presence of other constituents such as proteins.…”