16 - Second harmonic generation (SHG) as a characterization technique and phenomological probe for organic materials

Abstract

Optical second harmonic generation (SHG) is a powerful technique to study nonlinear optical properties of materials. SHG is notable for its requirement for the absence of a material inversion center. In an electric field induced SHG (EFISHG) experiment, symmetry is broken by an electric field allowing SHG. Hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) is another technique that probes incoherent SHG in isotropic solution. Both EFISHG and HRS are used to study molecular nonlinear optical mechanisms and characterize new materials.