Effect of Central Metal on Nonlinear Optical Properties of Porphyrins and Their Graphene Composites

Abstract

The nonlinear optical properties of a series of newly synthesized porphyrins with different central metals and their covalently linked graphene composites are theoretically studied by numerically solving the rate equations and field intensity equation. Calculated results show that all the studied compounds are promising candidates for optical limiters, and graphene–porphyrin composites are expected to be preferable optical limiters because of their excellent nonlinear absorption abilities. In addition, the central metal in the porphyrin is found to be crucial to the optical power limiting and two-photon absorption performances of the compounds. Our results reproduce the experimental measurements. Additionally, special emphasis is placed on the factors that can affect the nonlinear optical properties of the compounds, indicating that one can create favorable nonlinear optical properties of the compounds by changing either the parameters of the absorber, including the concentration and thickness, or the pul...