Issue 18, 2024

Multi-step cation substitution facilitating the exploration of potential infrared nonlinear optical materials

Abstract

Crystal structure regulation and optical performance enhancement are huge challenges, especially for the laborious and inefficient trial-and-error method, in the research on infrared nonlinear optical (IR NLO) materials. In this work, multi-step cation substitutions were adopted to modulate the crystal structure for the effective design of well-performing IR NLO materials. Specifically, starting from the famous AgGaS2 (AGS, I[4 with combining macron]2d) crystal, Ag2CdSiS4 (Pmn21) with diamond-like crystal structure, BaAg2SiS4 (I[4 with combining macron]2m) with three-dimensional tunnel structure and LaAgSiS4 (Ama2) with two-dimensional layer structure were designed and experimentally synthesized through multi-step cation substitutions. Structural analysis reveals the fundamental reason of their tetrahedral framework transformation: the size effect of cations and the reduction of component tetrahedra caused by cationic substitution change the assembly mode of the tetrahedral units. Additionally, three non-centrosymmetric Ag-based thiosilicates exhibit wide transmittance range (0.5–17 μm), higher laser-induced damage thresholds (2 times that of AGS) and significant phase-matchable second harmonic generation (SHG) enhancement from 0.6 to 3.2 times that of AGS. This work demonstrates that multi-step cation substitution is an effective way to extend non-centrosymmetric structures, which facilitate the exploration of potential infrared nonlinear optical materials.

Graphical abstract: Multi-step cation substitution facilitating the exploration of potential infrared nonlinear optical materials

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
26 jun 2024
Accepted
28 jul 2024
First published
29 jul 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Inorg. Chem. Front., 2024,11, 5905-5912

Multi-step cation substitution facilitating the exploration of potential infrared nonlinear optical materials

Y. Han, C. Hu, W. Chen and J. Mao, Inorg. Chem. Front., 2024, 11, 5905 DOI: 10.1039/D4QI01603C

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