Ultrafast nonresonant third-order optical nonlinearity of a conjugated 3,3′-bipyridine derivative from 1150 to 1600 nm

A conjugated 3,3'-bipyridine derivative, an apolar structure of donor-acceptor-acceptor-donor (D-A-A-D) type was designed and characterized for third-order optical nonlinearity using Z-scan technique in the wavelength range of 1150-1600 nm. Z-scan spectra reveal a positive Kerr coefficient across this wavelength range with n(2) = (4.660.7) x 10(-6) cm(2)/GW at 1550 nm accompanied by negligible nonlinear absorption for wavelength around 1550 nm, indicating ideal figures of merit for applications in ultrafast all-optical switching. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.