The thin film of a heptamethine cyanine chromophore HC was prepared by spin-coating technique. Its surface morphology and linear optical property were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy. The results show that HC molecules are arranged in a well-ordered H-aggregate type. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of the spin-coating film were also measured by degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) measurement. Enhanced third-order nonlinear susceptibility can be attributed to molecular aggregation effects, and the corresponding mechanism was dealt with by collective electronic oscillator (CEO) approach.
