A Nonlinear Optical Organic Crystal for Waveguiding SHG Devices: (-)2-(α-Methylbenzylamino)-5-Nitropyridine (MBANP)

Abstract

A nonlinear optical organic material, (-)2-(α-methylbenzylamino)-5-nitropyridine (MBANP), has been comprehensively investigated with the objective of application to frequency doubling of laser diodes. Its molecular hyperpolarizability is as large as that of p -nitroaniline. MBANP crystallizes with a highly asymmetric molecular arrangement. The largest nonlinear optical coefficient, d 22 , is measured to be 60 pm/V. The corresponding figure of merit for frequency doubling at 1.064 µm is 3.5 times larger than that for d 33 of LiNbO 3 . Čerenkov-radiation-type, phase-matched second-harmonic generation has been demonstrated utilizing the d 22 coefficient by making use of an appropriate waveguiding structure.