Dipolar donor-acceptor-substituted Schiff base complexes with large off-diagonal second-order nonlinear optical tensor components

The synthesis, characterization, and two-dimensional second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) response, of a dipolar Ni-II donor-acceptor Schiff base complex and the related ligand are reported. Electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation and harmonic light (hyper-Rayleigh) scattering techniques, in combination with INDO/SCI-SOS theoretical calculations, were used to investigate the vector part of the hyperpolarizability tensor and the two-dimensional character of the molecular nonlinearity, respectively. Off-diagonal hyperpolarizability tensors can be related to charge-transfer transitions that are polarized perpendicular to the molecular dipolar axis, while parallel transitions account for the diagonal hyperpolarizability tensor. The role of the metal center in enhancing the two-dimensional NLO response of such molecules is twofold since it acts both as the donor and the bridging moiety of the planar donor-(pi -conjugate-bridge)-acceptor system. These dipolar two-dimensional molecules are interesting candidates from the perspective of polarization-independent NLO materials.