Structure and nonlinear optical properties of (E)-1-(4-aminophenyl)-3-(3-chlorophenyl) prop-2-en-1-one: A promising new D-π-A-π-D type chalcone derivative crystal for nonlinear optical devices

Abstract

In this paper, we present the structure and nonlinear optical (NLO) studies of a D-π-A-π-D type chalcone derivative, (E)-1-(4-aminophenyl)-3-(3-chlorophenyl) prop-2-en-1-one (abbreviated as 3CAMC). The compound was synthesized by Claisen-Schmidt condensation and single crystals were grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique. The structure was confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. The 3CAMC crystal is crystallized in the monoclinic crystal system with non-centrosymmetric space group P21 with the unit cell parameters a = 8.0013 (19) Å, b = 4.6630 (11) Å, c = 16.883 (4) Å, β = 95.568 (3)° and Z = 2. The optical absorption spectrum was recorded using UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer and the band gap was calculated. The title crystal has a direct band gap of 2.96 eV. TGA/DTA thermal analysis revealed that the crystal has a good thermal stability. The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency was investigated using the modified Kurtz-Perry powder test at 1064 nm wavelength with nanosecond (ns) laser pulses. The SHG efficiency is found to be 7 times higher than the well-studied urea. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of 3CAMC at different concentrations were investigated in DMF using Z-scan technique with continuous wave (CW) DPSS laser at 532 nm wavelength. The molecule shows a strong two-photon absorption (2PA) and significant negative nonlinear refraction characteristic (self-defocusing) in the CW regime. Further, we observed the optical limiting behavior in the compound, and evaluated the one-photon and two-photon figures of merit. The encouraging results of NLO studies suggest that the 3CAMC crystal is a promising material for photonics devices, optical switches, and optical power limiting applications.