Second-order nonlinear optical property of Langmuir-Blodgett film prepared from a novel ferrocenyl-containing lanthanide complex

Abstract Uniform multilayer LB film of a novel amphiphilic ferrocenyl-containing lanthanide complex. ( E )-1-ferrocenyl-2-( N -hexadecylpyridinium-4-yl)ethylene tetrakis) 4, 4, 4-trifluoro-1-(2-naphthyl)-1,3-butanedionato)dysprosiuum(III), can be prepared by transferring the monolayer formed on pure water subphase (pH5.6. 18°C) onto hydrophilic substrates of quartz and calcium fluoride with a transfer ratio close to unity. From second harmonic generation experiments, the second-order molecular hyperpolarizability β of the dysprosium complex was evaluated to be 1.5 × 10 −28 e.s.u. This is one of largest values known for organometallic complexes. The UV-vis. near- and mid-IR spectroscopy for the LB film are also reported.