Design of Polymethine Dyes with Large Third-Order Optical Nonlinearities and Loss Figures of Merit

TLDR

Losses from scattering and absorption must be minimized to make optical‑switching applications feasible. The authors present a strategy to study the refraction and absorption of cyanine dyes for designing materials suited to telecom windows. They tuned the dyes’ optical properties by adding selenium atoms to the end groups of the cyanine molecules. The resulting series of molecules meets application criteria and demonstrates a route to improve nonlinear optical performance. Hales et al.

Abstract

Dying by Design To make optical-switching applications a reality, losses from scattering and other absorption processes have to be minimized. Hales et al. (p. 1485 , published online 18 February; see the Perspective by Haque and Nelson ) present a strategy to explore the refraction and absorption properties of a group of cyanine dyes for designing materials that have properties corresponding to technologically interesting telecommunications windows. The optical properties of the cyanine molecule was controlled by adding heavy chalcogen atoms (selenium) into the end groups of the molecular structure. While producing a series of molecules meeting criteria for feasible application, the work also demonstrates a route to improve the performance of nonlinear optical materials.