Synthesis and characterization of NLO chromophore with benzo [1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene unit as π-electron bridge

A novel chromophore BDT–TCF with benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene (BDT) unit as electron bridge was synthesized and characterized by UV–vis, NMR spectroscopy, and thermal analysis. It is the first time that BDT unit was introduced into NLO materials. The chromophore showed excellent solubility in most common solvents, and good thermal stability for practical applications. The second order nonlinear optical effect was measured by hyper Rayleigh scattering method. The diagonal hyperpolarizability βzzz of BDT–TCF was 8.2 × 10−28 and 9.3 × 10−29 esu in THF solvent and in PMMA polymer matrices, respectively. The potential NLO response indicates that BDT unit is a promising π-electron bridge and an excellent candidate for nonlinear optical devices.