Nonlinear optical behavior of neodymium mono- and bi-nuclear phthalocyanines linked to zinc oxide nanoparticles and incorporated into poly acrylic acid

Abstract Syntheses of bis{23-(3,4-di-yloxybenzoic acid)-(2(3), 9(10), 16(17), 23(24))-(hexakis-pyridin-3-yloxy phthalocyaninato)} dineodymium (III) acetate ( 3 ) and 2(3), 9(10), 16(17), 23(24)-(tetrapyridin-3-yloxy phthalocyaninato) neodymium (III) acetate ( 4 ) as well as their conjugates with ZnO nanoparticles (conjugates 6 , 7 and 8 ) are presented. Thin films of conjugate 6 (where complex 3 is linked to ZnO nanoparticles via an amide bond) gave the best third-order susceptibility (5.89 × 10 −8  esu), second-order hyperpolarizability (2.53 × 10 −25  esu) and the lowest limiting threshold values (0.12 J cm −2 ). The nonlinear behavior is enhanced in solid state when compared to solution.