The effects of applied electric fields and solvent
polarity on the linear and nonlinear optical (NLO)
properties
of three prototypical merocyanine (donor−conjugated
pathway−acceptor) chromophores of differing
architectural types are analyzed using semiempirical INDO/1
calculations in the presence of imposed static
electric fields, using finite-field self-consistent field (FFSCF), and
in the presence of solvent dielectrics, self-consistent reaction field (SCRF), models. The NLO properties are
computed using the computationally efficient
correction vector approach. Both applied electric fields and
solvent are found to affect the extent of charge
separation induced in the ground states of these molecules. This
charge separation leads to a geometric
distortion, measured by the bond-length alternation (BLA) parameter,
which indexes the geometrical evolution
of the molecular architecture from a neutral polyenic structure to a
partially ionic cyanine-like structure to an
ionic polymethine-like structure. These geometric variations lead
to large changes in the linear as well as
NLO response properties, which are different, both qualitatively and
quantitatively, at the three different
structural limits. The applied electric field is found to produce
large variations in the structural, electronic,
linear, and NLO properties. However, an analysis based on the
Onsager reaction field model shows that in
general the electric field produced by even the most polar
solvents is inadequate to produce large geometric
distortions. This trend is also observed experimentally in
solvent-dependent electronic and optical properties,
where even the most polar solvents produce effects equivalent only to
those produced by a very small electric
field. However, variations in structural and optical properties
are also found to be highly architecture specific
and large variations are possible in chromophore structures stabilized
on charge separation. The field at
which the chromophore geometry attains the cyanine-like structure is
not coincident with the field at which
the SHG coefficient goes to zero; an asymmetry in the BLA pattern is
required to attain the zero-β limit.
Optimal NLO response occurs when the geometry of the conjugation
pathway lies between the polyenic and
cyanine-like structures.