Superior optical nonlinearity of an exceptional fluorescent stilbene dye

Journal Article · Mon Mar 16 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4915311· OSTI ID:22395752

He, Tingchao ^[1]; Sreejith, Sivaramapanicker; Zhao, Yanli ^[2]; Gao, Yang; Grimsdale, Andrew C. ^[3]; Lin, Xiaodong ^[1]; Sun, Handong ^[4]

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1. College of Physics Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060 (China)
2. Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637371 (Singapore)
3. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore 639798 (Singapore)
4. Division of Physics and Applied Physics, Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies (CDPT), School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637371 (Singapore)

Strong multiphoton absorption and harmonic generation in organic fluorescent chromophores are, respectively, significant in many fields of research. However, most of fluorescent chromophores fall short of the full potential due to the absence of the combination of such different nonlinear upconversion behaviors. Here, we demonstrate that an exceptional fluorescent stilbene dye could exhibit efficient two- and three-photon absorption under the excitation of femtosecond pulses in solution phase. Benefiting from its biocompatibility and strong excited state absorption behavior, in vitro two-photon bioimaging and superior optical limiting have been exploited, respectively. Simultaneously, the chromophore could generate efficient three-photon excited fluorescence and third-harmonic generation (THG) when dispersed into PMMA film, circumventing the limitations of classical fluorescent chromophores. Such chromophore may find application in the production of coherent light sources of higher photon energy. Moreover, the combination of three-photon excited fluorescence and THG can be used in tandem to provide complementary information in biomedical studies.

• OSTI ID: 22395752
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 106; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ABSORPTION
DYES
EXCITATION
EXCITED STATES
FILMS
FLUORESCENCE
HARMONIC GENERATION
LIGHT SOURCES
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
MULTI-PHOTON PROCESSES
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PHOTONS
PMMA
STILBENE