Ferrocene, an old molecule with a bright future: Thin films grown by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation for nonlinear optical applications

Ferrocene – Fe(C5H5)2, the prototypical metallocene, is a type of organometallic chemical compound consisting of two cyclopentadienyl rings bound on opposite sides of a central iron atom. We discuss here on the growth of high quality, nanometric-sized ferrocene thin films by a non-conventional technique, i.e. matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE), on silicon and ITO coated glass substrates, by using a Nd:YAG pulsed laser device emitting at 266 nm (4ω). Spectroscopic-ellipsometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques were used to investigate the structure, morphology and optical properties of the films. Low-to-medium second harmonic generation capabilities of the films were evidenced, when irradiated by a femtosecond Ti:sapphire pulsed laser.