Design and synthesis of hyperstructured molecules based on cyclophosphazene core for multiphoton absorption

Abstract

Cyclophosphazene based hyperstructured molecules were synthesized through simple nucleophilic substitution reactions. All these molecules were characterized by multinuclear NMR, MALDI and HRMS spectral data. Third order nonlinear optical properties of the hyperstructured molecules were measured using Z-scan technique with 532 nm, picosecond (ps) laser and 800 nm, femtosecond (fs) laser pulses. The molecules showed reverse saturable absorption on excitation at both 532 nm and 800 nm, which could be attributed to the two-photon absorption (2 PA) and three-photon absorption (3 PA), respectively. The 2 PA and 3 PA cross section values exhibited by the molecules based on cyclophosphazene are as high as 527 GM and 1.86 × 10−76 cm−6 s2 photon−1, respectively. The 2PA, 3PA coefficients and optical limiting properties make them suitable candidates for nonlinear optical devices in the visible and near IR range.