Abstract

Stilbene derivatives with electron-donative group(s) attached to one benzene ring and electron-acceptive group(s) to the other are interesting molecules with respect to their large nonlinear optical properties associated with their giant permanent dipole moments, especially in the excited singlet states. One such molecule is 4-dimethyla- mino-4'-nitrostilbene (DMANS), which is reported to have a very large dipole moment (32 D) in the lowest excited singlet state.¹ We have proposed the possibility of the application of such molecular systems as DMANS and its diethyl derivative, 4-diethylamino-4'-nitrostilbene (DEANS), which has higher solubility than DMANS in various solvents, to the optically bistable devices utilizing their large third-order nonlinear susceptibility induced by the large dipole moments.^2,3

© 1987 Optical Society of America