Study of the influence of metal and ligand properties on the second-order nonlinear optical response of organometallic complexes by hyper-Rayleigh scattering

Summary form only. Optically nonlinear organic materials show considerable potential for applications in optical signal processing and telecommunication. Recently, transition metal organometallic complexes have emerged. Compared to organic molecules, they offer a large variety of structures, high environmental stability, and much greater diversity of tunable electronic properties. Here, we report on the study of the first hyperpolarizability /spl beta/ of two homologous series of [M(PM-BiA)/sub 2/(NCS)/sub 2/] and [M(PM-2PEA)/sub 2/(NCS)/sub 2/] (M=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn) transition metal complexes. The influence of the /spl beta/ of the ligand and of the metal electronic configuration in octahedral geometry upon the second-order nonlinear response on passing from closed-shell to open-shell electronic structures is evidenced.