Alkali-Responsive Absorption Spectra and Third-Order Optical Nonlinearities of Imino Squaramides

Third-order optical nonlinearities and dynamic responses of two imino squaramides under neutral and base conditions were studied using the femtosecond degenerate four-wave mixing technique at 800 nm. Ultrafast optical responses have been observed and the magnitude of the second-order hyperpolarizabilities of the squaramides has been measured to be as large as 10⁻³¹ esu. The absorption spectra, color of solution, and third-order optical nonlinearities of two imino squaramides change with the addition of sodium hydroxide. The γ value under the base condition for each dye is approximately 1.25 times larger than that under neutral conditions.