Nonlinear reverse saturation absorption, self-defocusing behavior and structure-property relationship of a novel 2,3,4-trimethoxy-4'-nitrochalcone single crystal

Abstract

The present work describes the crystal structure, third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties and Hirshfeld Surface (HFs) analysis of 1-(4-nitrophenyl)-3-(2, 3, 4,-trimethoxyphenyl) prop-en-1-one (2, 3,4TMNC). The synthesized material was characterised by FT-IR, FT-Raman, UV–Visible, NMR [1H, 13C{1H}] and single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. TGA-DTA analysis revealed that crystal has higher thermal stability. HFs analysis is performed to visualize intra and intermolecular interactions (C–H⋯O). The third-order NLO properties were studied using standard open and closed aperture Z-Scan technique with a continuous wave (CW) DPSS laser (λ = 532 nm). The calculated values of nonlinear refraction coefficient (n2), third-order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(3)) and nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) were found to be of the order of -10−9 cm2/W, 10−7 esu and 10−5 cmW−1 respectively. Normalized transmittance is decreased with increased input intensity of laser i.e. 2, 3, 4 TMNC showed good optical limiting property. The optical limiting threshold was found to be 3.36 kJ/cm2. Thus, the title chalcone derivative is a potential material for optical limiting applications.