A two-photon absorbing (TPA) compound is provided, along with a method of making same. The TPA compound has a general structural formula: where A is an acceptor moiety that is connected to m number of diarylaminofluorene arms (m=1-3); in each diarylaminofluorene arms, R is selected from linear or branched alkyl chains having a general formula CnH2n+1, where n is in a range from 2 to 25; where R1, R2, and R3 are independently selected from H or C1-C4 alkyls; where R4 is selected from C1-C5 alkyls; and wherein R5 through R10 are independently selected from H, alkoxyls, alkyls, or aryls. A may be benzothiazol-2-yl, benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bisthiazole-2,6-diyl, thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole-2,5-diyl-, 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triyl, 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triyl, benzo[1,2-d:3,4-d′:5,6-d″]tristhiazole-2,5,8-triyl-, or dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]thiophene-2,6-diyl-.