Density functional theory investigation of the second hyperpolarizability of the phenol blue in solution

On the third-order nonlinear optical responses of cis and trans stilbenes - a quantum chemistry investigation

The second hyperpolarizabilities (γ) of the stilbene molecular switch in its trans and cis forms have been calculated using quantum chemistry methods to address their third-order nonlinear optical contrasts, to assess the reliability of lower-cost DFT methods, and to make comparisons with experiments. First, the reference CCSD(T) method shows that trans-stilbene presents a γ‖ value twice larger than its cis isomer (its γTHS value is 2.7 times larger). Among more cost-effective methods, reliable results are obtained at MP2 as well as with DFT, provided the CAM-B3LYP or ωB97X-D XCFs are employed. Supplementary DFT calculations have investigated the relationships between the accuracy of the exchange-correlation functionals, the fulfillment of Koopmans' theorem, and the delocalization error, and they demonstrated that satisfying Koopmans' theorem is not the condition for the best accuracy but that functionals with small delocalization errors are generally efficient. Using the selected CAM-B3LYP, large γ enhancements by about 70% (trans-stilbene) and 50% (cis-stilbene) have been evidenced when accounting for solvent effects using an implicit solvation model (IEFPCM), even for apolar solvents. Then, the frequency dispersion of the γ responses has been described using Bishop polynomial expansions, allowing comparisons with a broad set of experimental data. To a certain extent, no systematic agreement between the calculations and the measured values was found. On the one hand, the agreement is satisfactory for the γ(-ω;ω,-ω,ω) quantities, provided that the dominant vibrational contribution is taken into account. On the other hand, the agreement is poor for the γ(-2ω;ω,ω,0) and γ(-3ω;ω,ω,ω) quantities, while some inconsistencies between experimental values are also highlighted.

First hyperpolarizability of the di-8-ANEPPS and DR1 nonlinear optical chromophores in solution. An experimental and multi-scale theoretical chemistry study

The solvent effects on the linear and second-order nonlinear optical properties of an aminonaphtylethenylpyridinium (ANEP) dye are investigated by combining experimental and theoretical chemistry methods. On the one hand, deep near infrared (NIR) hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) measurements (1840-1950 nm) are performed on solutions of di-8-ANEPPS in deuterated chloroform, dimethylformamide, and dimethylsulfoxide to determine their first hyperpolarizablity (βHRS). For the first time, these HRS experiments are carried out in the picosecond regime in the deep NIR with very moderate (≤3 mW) average input power, providing a good signal-to-noise ratio and avoiding solvent thermal effects. Moreover, the frequency dispersion of βHRS is investigated for Disperse Red 1 (DR1), a dye commonly used as HRS external reference. On the other hand, these are compared with computational chemistry results obtained by using a sequential molecular dynamics (MD) then quantum mechanics (QM) approach. The MD method allows accounting for the dynamical nature of the molecular structures. Then, the QM part is based on TDDFT/M06-2X/6-311+G* calculations using solvation models ranging from continuum to discrete ones. Measurements report a decrease of the βHRS of di-8-ANEPPS in more polar solvents and these effects are reproduced by the different solvation models. For di-8-ANEPPS and DR1, comparisons show that the use of a hybrid solvation model, combining the description of the solvent molecules around the probe by point charges with a continuum model, already achieves quasi quantitative agreement with experiment. These results are further improved by using a polarizable embedding that includes the atomic polarizabilities in the solvent description.

Electric-field induced second harmonic generation responses of push-pull polyenic dyes: experimental and theoretical characterizations

The second-order nonlinear optical properties of four series of amphiphilic cationic chromophores involving different push-pull extremities and increasingly large polyenic bridges have been investigated both experimentally, by means of electric field induced second harmonic (EFISH) generation, and theoretically, using a computational approach combining classical molecular dynamics (MD) and quantum chemical (QM) calculations. This theoretical methodology allows to describe the effects of structural fluctuations on the EFISH properties of the complexes formed by the dye and its iodine counterion, and provides a rationale to EFISH measurements. The good agreement between experimental and theoretical results proves that this MD + QM scheme constitutes a useful tool for a rational, computer-aided, design of SHG dyes.