Large-Area Patternable Solar-Powered Bistable Organic Crystalline Film for Nonlinear Optical Communication

Abstract

Reversible control of crystal symmetry offers a powerful route to programmable optical functionality. However, achieving solid-state bistability between centrosymmetric and non-centrosymmetric crystalline phases remains a formidable challenge; examples of materials that enable stable switching of second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) responses are exceptionally rare. Here we report a solar-powered, symmetry-bistable organic material based on the photoisomerizable molecule (E/Z)-2-(4-(4-bromophenyl)thiazol-2-yl)-3-(4- (dimethylamino)phenyl)acrylonitrile (E/Z-BTDPA). The crystallizable E- and Z-isomers adopt distinct molecular packing arrangements that reversibly toggle between these states, controlling second-order NLO activity. The E-form exhibits strong second-harmonic generation (SHG), whereas the Z-form is SHG-inactive and displays twophoton luminescence. This bistable behavior is retained in flexible thin films, where sunlight-driven photoisomerization enables reversible photoswitching of the second-order electric susceptibility (\c{hi} 2), large-area optical patterning, and real-time NLO communication via waveform generation and text-string transcription at telecommunication wavelengths. This sustainable strategy bypasses rigid inorganic architectures, establishing photoinduced symmetry bistability as a scalable paradigm for all-optical computing and advanced communication networks.