Study of Solvent Dependent on Third-Order Nonlinear Optical and Thermo-Optic Coefficient of Malachite Green Dye

This study reveals the solvent dependent third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) features of malachite green (MG) dye using Z-scan technique. MG dye is dissolved in polar solvents, including DMF, DMSO, ethanol, acetone, methanol, and 1-propanol. The study employs the Z-scan instrument, using a continuous wave (CW) laser as the excitation source, operating at a wavelength of 650 nm. The closed aperture (CA) and open aperture (OA) Z-scan techniques are used to assess the nonlinear indices of refraction (n₂) and nonlinear coefficient of absorption (β) of MG dye. MG dye demonstrates both saturable absorption (SA) and reverse saturable absorption (RSA) in the OA Z-scan results, due to negative and positive NLO absorption coefficients. MG dye proves a self-defocusing NLO refractive index while operating under low-power conditions. The third-order NLO susceptibility (χ³) of MG dye in various liquids are calculated to be the order of 10^-6 esu. Multilinear regression fit is applied here to investigate the various intermolecular interactions between the solute and solvent. MG dye exhibited large thermo-optic coefficient of the order of 10^- 3 K^- 1 is observed. The results give important new information about the characteristics of MG dye and indicate potential sources of material for NLO applications in future.