Large and ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearity of heteroleptic triple-decker (phthalocyaninato)(porphyrinato)Sm(III) complexes

Abstract The third-order optical nonlinearity of two triple-decker mixed phthalocyaninato and porphyrinato Sm complexes, Sm 2 (Pc) 2 (TPP) and Sm 2 (Pc)(TPP) 2 (Pc=phthalocyanine; TPP=5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinate), is investigated using the femtosecond time-resolved optical Kerr gate method at 830 nm wavelength. Their second-order hyperpolarizabilities are estimated to be 2.6 × 10 −30 and 2.2 × 10 −30 esu, respectively. Introducing of Lanthanide Sm to the large π-conjugated system, intermacrocycle interaction and two-photon resonance are considered responsible for the large optical nonlinearity.