Near IR Two Photon Absorption of Cyanines Dyes. Application to Optical Power Limiting at Telecommunication Wavelengths

摘要

The design and synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical heptamethine cyanines is reported. These chromophores present significant two-photon cross section in the 1400-1600 nm spectral range. In addition, they display optical power limiting (OPL) properties. OPL curves were interpreted on the basis of two-photon absorption (2PA) followed by excited state absorption (ESA). Finally, these molecules present several relevant properties (nonlinear absorption properties, two-step gram scale synthesis, high solubility, good thermal stability), which could lead to numerous practical applications in material science (solid state optical limiting, signal processing) or in biology (imaging).