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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Construction and Systematical Symmetric Studies of a Series of Supramolecular Clusters with Binary or Ternary Ammonium Triphenylacetates
Published on: February 15, 2016
Strong enhancement of nonlinear optical properties through supramolecular chirality
1T. Verbiest, S. Van Elshocht, M. Kauranen, L. Hellemans, J. Snauwaert, A. Persoons, Laboratory of Chemical and Biological Dynamics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 D, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium. C. Nuckolls and T. J.
Abstract:
A new approach to second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials is reported, in which chirality and supramolecular organization play key roles. Langmuir-Blodgett films of a chiral helicene are composed of supramolecular arrays of the molecules. The chiral supramolecular organization makes the second-order NLO susceptibility about 30 times larger for the nonracemic material than for the racemic material with the same chemical structure. The susceptibility of the nonracemic films is a respectable 50 picometers per volt, even though the helicene structure lacks features commonly associated with high nonlinearity. Susceptibility components that are allowed only by chirality dominate the second-order NLO response.
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