A novel multi-branched chrornopliore containing 2.3-diarrylquinoxalinyl units as the electron-acceptors had been synthesized and its nonlinear optical properties were characterized in the femtosecond and nanosecond regime The experimental results show that the Studied fluorophore possesses strong and wide-dispersed two-photon absorption in near Infrared (NIR) region It is demonstrated that the incorporation of '23-diisubstituted quinoxaline moieties as a part of pi-conjugation in a dye molecule could be a useful approach toward large molecular two-photon absoptivities within the studied spectral region Effective optical-power-attenuation behaviors in the nanosecond time domain of this compound were also investigated and the results indicate that such dye molecule can be a potential material as a broadband and quick-responsive optical limiter especially when against those laser lights with longer pulses (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved