An Unprecedented Antimony(III) Borate with Strong Linear and Nonlinear Optical Responses
Youchao Liu, Xiaomeng Liu, Shuai Liu, Qingran Ding, Yanqiang Li, Lina Li, Sangen Zhao, Zheshuai Lin, Junhua Luo, Maochun Hong
Abstract
Abstract Antimony(III) borates with a stereochemical active lone pair remained unknown, although the first antimony borate was reported more than twenty years ago. Now, the first antimony(III) borate in a closed system is successfully synthesized, namely SbB 3 O 6 . Remarkably, SbB 3 O 6 not only exhibits an exceptional linear optical response, that is, birefringence of Δn=0.290 at the wavelength of 546 nm, which is the largest among borates, but also has a strong nonlinear optical response of 3.5 times larger than the benchmark KH 2 PO 4 , exceeding those of most borates. Theoretical calculations reveal that the coexistence of strong linear and nonlinear optical responses in SbB 3 O 6 should be attributable to the synergistic effect of π‐conjugated B−O anionic groups and Sb 3+ with stereochemically active lone pair. This work provides a new class of optical bi‐functional materials with potential prospects in integrated optical devices.