Highly-efficient terahertz emission from hydrogen-bonded single molecular crystal 4-nitro-2,5-bis(phenylethynyl)aniline

Abstract

We report terahertz electromagnetic wave emission by optical rectification from hydrogen-bonded single molecular crystal 4-nitro-2,5-bis(phenylethynyl)aniline designed to be polar via the hydrogen bonding between nitroaniline cores. The terahertz emission efficiency is comparable to the representative inorganic terahertz emitter ZnTe. We show terahertz emission characteristics, optical spectrum, and theoretical molecular orbital calculations. Another three kinds of nitroaniline-based organic molecules are revealed to form polar crystal structure, and they have large hyperpolarizabilities and have potential for terahertz photonics.