Nonlinear optical properties and excited state dynamics of sandwich-type mixed (phthalocyaninato)(Schiff-base) triple-decker complexes: Effect of rare earth atom

•Two sandwich-type complexes with different lanthanide ion were synthesized.•Dy complex show improved nonlinear optical parameters on picosecond time regime.•Tb complex has stronger nonlinear absorption under nanosecond laser excitation.•Pump-probe results show that excited state relaxation is affected by lanthanide ion. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of two di-lanthanide (Ln = Tb and Dy) sandwich complexes with mixed phthalocyanine and Schiff-base ligands were studied using Z-scan technique at 532 nm with 20 ps and 4 ns pulses. Both complexes exhibit reverse saturable absorption and self-focusing effect in ps regime, while the second-order hyperpolarizability decreases from Dy to Tb. Interestingly, the Tb triple-decker complexes show larger nonlinear absorption than Dy complexes on ns timescale. The time-resolved pump-probe measurements demonstrate that the nonlinear optical response was caused by excited-state mechanism related to the five-level model, while the singlet state lifetime of Dy complexes is 3 times shorter than that of Tb complexes. Our results indicate the lanthanide ions play a critical role in the photo-physical properties of triple-decker phthalocyanine complexes for their application as optical limiting materials.