Nonlinear Optical Properties and All Optical Switching of Curcumin Derivatives

In this work OR1(E1,6E) -1,7-bis (4-propyloxy phenyl) hepta-1,6-diene-3,5 dione compound is synthesized. The compound has been characterized via computational technique by studying the molecule's electronic structures through calculating its HOMO and LUMO energies, and its band gap energy (E_HOMO-E_LUMO). The nonlinear refractive index (NLRI) of the solution of OR1 compound in DMF solvent is determined using diffraction patterns (DPs) which resulted when a continuous wave laser beam of wavelength 473 nm traversed the compound solution in a glass cell of 1 mm thickness. By counting the number of rings under maximum beam input power, the NLRI of value 10^- 6 cm²/W resulted. The NLRI is calculated once more via the Z-scan technique and a value of 0.25 × 10^- 7 cm²/W is obtained. The vertical convection current in the OR1 compound solution appears to be responsible for the asymmetries noticed in the DPs. The temporal variation of each DP is noticed together with the evolution of DPs against beam input power. DPs are numerically simulated based on the Fresnel-Kirchhoff integral with good accord compared to the experimental findings. Dynamic and static all-optical switching in the OR1 compound using two laser beams (473 and 532 nm) is tested successfully.