Influence of Polar Solvents on Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Features of Methyl Red Dye

This study emphasis the solvent effect on third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) features of methyl red (MR) dye dissolved in polar solvents including ethanol, methanol, acetone, 1-propanol, DMF and DMSO using low power diode laser. Z-scan technique operating at 405 nm wavelength, is used to estimate the third-order NLO features of MR dye in various solvents. The dye discloses self-defocusing nonlinear index of refraction (n₂), which is determined to be the order of 10^-7 cm²/W. The nonlinear coefficient of absorption (β) of MR dye displays both negative and positive value owing to saturable absorption (SA) and reverse saturable absorption (RSA), respectively. The real and imaginary components of the third-order NLO susceptibility of MR dye in polar solvents are measured to be the order of 10^-6 esu and 10^-7 esu, respectively. The dye exhibits a large NLO susceptibility in DMSO, which is estimated to be 1.21 × 10^-6 esu. The effect of solvent spectral features on MR dye is determined by applying a multi-parameter scale called Kamlet-Abboud-Taft. The experiment results indicate that MR dye is a promising NLO material that may find applications in photonics and optoelectronics.