Study on the Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties of [6]Helicenes with Chromophores

Abstract

A series of chiral [6]helicenes have been designed using the molecular engineering of organic nonlinear optical materials. The geometries of [6]helicenes 1, 2, 3, 4,5 are optimized using density functional theory (DFT-B3LYP) method at the 6-31g (d, p) basis set level. Based on the obtained stable molecular configuration, we adopt the TDHT/PM3 method and time-dependent density-functional theory (TD-DFT) to calculate the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties and electronic spectra of these molecules. Results show that the static hyperpolarizability βµ alternates between positive value and negative value, whereas it remains positive for the molecues 2 and 3 which have medium magnitudes βµ, 3.4×10-30esu and 9.6×10-30esu respectively. In molecule 5, there exists two competitive charge transfers that reduce the hyperpolarizability β.