Polymeric composite materials for nonlinear optics and photonics

Polymeric composite materials provide the advantage that by judicious choice of the constituents and processing one can simultaneously optimize nonlinear optical function, optical quality as well as thermal and photochemical stability. In this paper results will be provided on two different types of nonlinear optical materials; (i) χ⁽²⁾ and (ii) photorefractive. For second-order, χ⁽²⁾, materials, we have used new chromophores and novel processing to produce composites which show large χ⁽²⁾, enhanced thermal stability (over 350°C). They also exhibit stability of temporal alignment not only at room temperature but also at elevated temperatures. For photorefractivity, we have used the composite approach to separate the functions of photosensitization, charge-carrier transport and electro-optic activity and thus optimize each separately. Our photorefractive polymer composites exhibit a relatively large diffraction efficiency and fast response.