SYNTHESES AND NONLINEAR-OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF NONAGGREGATED METALLOPHTHALOCYANINES

Hexadecakis(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-substituted vanadyl and zinc phthal ocyanines, and hexadecakis(ethoxy)vanadylphthalocyanine, were synthesi zed and characterized. Their aggregation properties were studied by ev aluation of the concentration dependence of absorption spectra. Hexade cakis(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)substituted metallophthalocyanines were fo und to be nonaggregated phthalocyanines even in the condensed state. H owever, nonfluorinated hexadecakis(ethoxy)vanadylphthalocyanine showed a redshift of the Q band in the solid state. The third-order nonlinea r optical properties of these phthalocyanine films were studied by ele ctroabsorption measurement in terms of molecular structure and aggrega tion. The aggregation effect enhances the macroscopic third-order nonl inearity of metallophthalocyanine. Among nonaggregated hexadecakis(2,2 ,2-trifluoroethoxy)-substituted metallophthalocyanines, zinc phthalocy anine was found to have a larger macroscopic third-order nonlinearity than the vanadyl compound. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.