title: Wavelength dependence and figures of merit of ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearity of a conjugated 3,3'-bipyridine derivative.
abstract: The wavelength dependence and figures of merit of the third-order optical nonlinearity of a conjugated 3,3'-bipyridine derivative, a designed nondipolar structure of the donor-acceptor-acceptor-donor type, are reported. Z scans reveal positive nonlinear refractive-index changes for wavelengths longer than the one-photon absorption wavelength. Although the value of nonlinear Kerr coefficient n2 decreases from 6.0(+/- 0.2) x 10(-6) cm2/GW at 750 nm to 4.6(+/- 0.7) x 10(-6) cm2/GW at 1550 nm, the value of nonlinear absorption beta decreases from 0.084 cm/GW at 750 nm to a negligible value at 1550 nm, giving rise to excellent nonlinearity-to-loss figures of merit at telecommunications wavelengths.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 10 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G4, Canada. qiying.chen@nrc.ca
authors.forename: Qiying
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Edward H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Sargent
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leclerc
authors.forename: André-Jean
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Attias