Nonlinear optical properties of tetrapyrrole compounds and prospects for their application (a review)

Abstract

The phenomenological description of second-(χ (2) ) and third-order (χ (3) ) nonlinear optical phenomena and studies on nonlinear optical properties of tetrapyrrole molecules are reviewed. Issues of the formation of twophoton absorption spectra of tetrapyrrole compounds and ways to synthesize new molecular systems possessing high nonlinear optical parameters are presented and discussed in detail. The experience of use of the nonlinear optical properties of tetrapyrrole compounds in industry, medicine, and biology and future trends in this area are presented and analyzed.Introduction. The rapid development and broad introduction of materials with nonlinear optical properties during the last decade have made photonic technologies an indispensable part of our daily life. Nonlinear optical materials are key elements in modern photonic technologies. They are used to fabricate components of computer and telecommunication systems, new high-density information-storage devices, optoelectronic sensors, image processing systems, and optical switches and connectors [1]. Much effort is being expended to develop photonic devices based on organic compounds with nonlinear optical properties. Previous investigations have shown that organic compounds with significant second-and third-order optical nonlinearity are promising materials for a wide range of photonic devices. Nonlinear optical materials based on organic compounds are potentially highly useful in various photonic devices because of the variety of molecular structures (from single molecules to organic polymers) and the ability for directed chemical modification of their functional properties. Nonlinear optical components can be integrated with electric, magnetic, and other optical components. Various nonlinear optical effects can be used to fabricate devices for different applications.The nonlinear optical properties of organic compounds can also be applied to biological investigations and in medicine. Multi-photon laser scanning microscopy is a new dynamically developing scientific field for the investigation of the structure and functional properties of biological subjects [2,3]. Multi-photon (as a rule, two-or three-photon is used) excitation provides the capability to use new spectral ranges, to isolate a region of photoexcitation of the studied tissues in the focal plane, to form an image with spatial resolution (3D-resolution), and to decrease substantially the background luminescence. These advantages of multi-photon excitation can be used to expand the capabilities of photodynamic therapy. It is expected that the use of this method will enable the depth of the photodynamic effect in tissues of patients to be increased and its range to be localized in a volume <1 µm 3 .Tetrapyrrole compounds exhibit nonlinear optical properties that are due to second (χ (2) ) and third (χ (3) ) order nonlinear susceptibilities. The cubic nonlinearity is the lowest order nonlinearity for most of them owing to the molecular symmetry. The variety of possible molecular structures of ...

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