BaSi7P10 and SrSi7P10: Two Infrared Nonlinear Optical Phosphides with T2 Supertetrahedra Exhibiting Strong Second‐Harmonic Generation Effects

Abstract Because mid‐ and far‐infrared (IR) nonlinear optical (NLO) materials play an important role in military and civil fields, plenty of excellent IR NLO materials have been discovered in recent decades, such as chalcogenides with T2 supertetrahedra. Pnictides with T2 supertetrahedra instead of MQ 4 (M = II B , III A , IV A metals; Q = P, As) tetrahedra, may favor high second‐harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency due to their large hyperpolarizability, but they have been rarely reported. Therefore, in this study, two pnictides with T2 supertetrahedra, BaSi 7 P 10 and SrSi 7 P 10 , are synthesized and studied. With three‐dimensional (3D) framework structures assembled from 1D zigzag chains of [Si 7 P 16 ] dual‐T2 supertetrahedra, both BaSi 7 P 10 and SrSi 7 P 10 exhibit strong phase‐matching (PM) SHG responses (3.2‐ and 3.0‐times that of AgGaS 2 ), large birefringences (0.077 and 0.112), and wide infrared transparency. In addition, theoretical calculation also reveals that the two‐coordinated P atom can enhance the SHG effects. This study provides a new strategy for exploring new IR NLO materials.