3RD-ORDER AND 5TH-ORDER OPTICAL NONLINEARITIES IN ORGANIC MATERIALS

We measure the nonlinear optical properties of solutions of a bisbenzethiozole-substituted thiophene compound (BBTDOT) and didecyloxy substituted polyphenyl (DDOS) using the Z-scan technique with 532 nm picosecond pulses. Both compounds exhibit two-photon absorption (2PA) and excited-state absorption (ESA) from the 2PA generated excited states. We measure the magnitude and sign of the real (refractive) and imaginary (2PA) parts of the third-order hyperpolarizability, and the excited-state absorptive and refractive cross sections. We observe third-order self-focusing in BBTDOT and self-defocusing in DDOS while both show excited-state defocusing. All these effects were previously observed and modeled in semiconductors giving insight into the nonlinearities occurring in these organic materials.