We report the highest two-photon absorption cross-section to date, obtained for a molecular tweezer complex. Our analysis suggests that long-range charge-transfer interaction in three dimensions is the main source of this very large two-photon absorption cross section.

SWAPAN CHAKRABARTI

KENNETH RUUD

University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a collegiate public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.&nbsp;Within India it is recognized as a &quot;Five-Star University&quot; and accredited &quot;A&quot; Grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

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The University of Calcutta has secured the Fifth position among the Universities of India in the prestigious &quot;Indian University Ranking 2019&quot; list, released by the NIRF of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

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It was established on 24 January 1857, and was one of the first institutions in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary and Western-style university. Its alumni and faculty include several heads of state, heads of government, social reformers, prominent artists, only academy award winner and Dirac medal winner in India, many Fellows of the Royal Society and five Nobel laureates as of 2019 which is highest in South Asia.

University Of Calcutta

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

In the present work, we have theoretically studied the one and two-photon absorption (OPA and TPA) probabilities of the native D-luciferin molecule and attempted to find the origin of its larger TPA cross-sections in polar solvents than in non-polar ones. The calculations using state-of-the-art linear and quadratic response theory in the framework of time-dependent density functional theory using hybrid B3LYP functional and cc-pVDZ basis set suggests that two-photon transition probability of this molecule increases with increasing solvent polarity. In order to explicate our present findings, we employed the generalized few-state-model and inspected the role of different optical channels related to the TPA process. We have found that the two-photon transition probability is always guided by a destructive interference term, the magnitude of which decreases with increasing solvent polarity. Furthermore, we have evaluated OPA parameters of D-luciferin and noticed that the the excitation energy is in very good agreement with the available experimental results. © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. All rights reserved.

Fulltext

Computation

A theoretical study of one-and two-photon activity of D-Luciferin

ConspectusThe two-photon absorption (TPA) process is the simplest and hence the most studied nonlinear optical phenomenon, and various aspects of this process have been explored in the past few decades, experimentally as well as theoretically. Previous investigations have shown that the two-photon (TP) activity of a molecular system can be tuned, and at present, performance-tailored TP active materials are easy to develop by monitoring factors such as length of conjugation, dimensionality of charge-transfer network, strength of donor-acceptor groups, polarity of solvents, self-aggregation, H-bonding, and micellar encapsulation to mention but a few. One of the most intriguing phenomena affecting the TP activity of a molecule is channel interference. The phrase "channel interference" implies that if the TP transition from one electronic state to another involves more than one optical pathway or channel, characterized by the corresponding transition dipole moment (TDM) vectors, the channels may interfere with each other depending upon the angles between the TDM vectors and hence can either increase (constructive interference) or decrease (destructive interference) the overall TP activity of a system to a significant extent. This phenomenon was first pointed out by Cronstrand, Luo, and Ågren [ Chem. Phys. Lett. 2002, 352, 262-269 ] in two-dimensional systems (i.e., only involving two components of the transition moment vectors). For three-dimensional molecules, an extended version of this idea was required. In order to fill this gap, we developed a generalized model for describing and exploring channel interference, valid for systems of any dimensionality. We have in particular applied it to through-bond (TB) and through-space (TS) charge-transfer systems both in gas phase and in solvents with different polarities. In this Account, we will, in addition to briefly describing the concept of channel interference, discuss two key findings of our recent work: (1) how to control the channel interference by chemical means, and (2) the role of channel interference in the anomalous solvent dependence of certain TP chromophores. For example, we will show that simple structurally induced changes in certain dihedral angles of the well-known betaine dye (TB type) will help fine-tune the constructive channel interference and hence increase the overall TP activity of molecules with this general TP channel structure. Another intriguing result we will discuss is observed for a tweezer-trinitrofluorinone complex (TS type) where, on moving from polar to essentially nonpolar solvents, the nature of the channel interference switches from destructive to constructive, leading to a net abnormal solvent dependence of the TP activity of the system. The present Account highlights the usefulness of the channel interference effect and establishes it as a new and unique way of controlling the TP transition probability in different types of three-dimensional molecules. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

Accounts of Chemical Research

Chemical control of channel interference in two-photon absorption processes

We study the effect of donor-acceptor orientation on solvent-dependent three-photon transition probabilities (δ3PA) of representative through-space charge-transfer (TSCT) systems, namely, doubly positively charged [2,2]-paracyclophane derivatives. Our cubic response calculations reveal that the value of δ3PA may be as high as 106 a.u., which can further be increased by a specific orientation of the donor-acceptor moieties. To explain the origin of the solvent cum orientation dependency of δ3PA, we have calculated different three-photon tensor components using a two-state model, noting that only a few tensor elements contribute significantly to the overall δ3PA value. We show that this dependence is due to the large dipole moment difference between the ground and excited states of the systems. The dominance of a few tensor elements indicates a synergistic involvement of π-conjugation and TSCT in the large δ3PA of these systems. © 2013 the Owner Societies.

Effect of donor-acceptor orientation on solvent-dependent three-photon activity in through-space charge-transfer systems-case study of [2,2]-paracyclophane derivatives

In the Letter, we address the question as to why larger two-photon absorption cross sections are observed in nonpolar than in polar solvents for through-space charge-transfer (TSCT) systems such as [2,2]-paracyclophane derivatives. In order to answer this question, we have performed ab initio calculations on two well-known TSCT systems, namely, a [2.2]-paracyclophane derivative and a molecular tweezer-trinitrofluorinone complex, and found that the two-photon transition probability values of these systems decreases with increasing solvent polarity. To rationalize this result, we have analyzed the role of different optical channels associated with the two-photon process and noticed that, in TSCTs, the interference between the optical channels is mostly destructive and that its magnitude increases with increasing solvent polarity. Moreover, it is also found that a destructive interference may sometimes even become a constructive one in a nonpolar solvent, making the two-photon activity of TSCTs in polar solvents less than that in nonpolar solvents. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

High-Polarity solvents decreasing the two-photon transition probability of through-space charge-transfer systems -A surprising in silico observation

Herein, we show that the two-photon (TP) transition probability (δ TP) of o-betaine system will reach its maximum value at a twist angle around 65°. However, the potential energy scan with respect to the twist angle between its two rings indicates that the molecule in its ground state is quite unstable at this twist angle. Out of the different possibilities, the one having a single methyl group at the ortho position of the pyridinium ring is found to attain the optimum twist angle between the two rings, and interestingly, this particular substituted o-betaine has larger δ TP value than any other substituted or pristine o-betaine. The twist angle dependent variation of δ TP has been explained by employing the generalized-few-state-model formula for 3D molecules. The results clearly reveal that the magnitude of ground to excited state and excited state dipole moment vectors as well as the angle between them are strongly in favor of maximizing the overall δ TP values at the optimum twist angle. The constructive interference between the optical channels at the optimum twist angle also plays an important role to achieve the maximum δ TP value. Furthermore, to give proper judgment on our findings, we have also performed solvent phase calculations on all the model systems in nonpolar solvents, namely, cyclohexane and n-hexane, and the results are quite consistent with the gas phase findings. The present study will definitely offer a new way to synthesize novel two-photon active material based on o-betaine. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Journal of Physical Chemistry A

Enhancement of twist angle dependent two-photon activity through the proper alignment of ground to excited state and excited state dipole moment vectors

Journal	Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Publisher	ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
ISSN	1463-9076