New photocrosslinkable polymers for second‐order nonlinear optical processes

Abstract

Abstract : Polymeric systems have been established as useful materials for second order nonlinear optical (NLO) processes, viz. frequency doubling, linear electro-optic effect, frequency mixing and parametric oscillation. Crosslinked systems are reported to exhibit stable second order properties. The system can be poled and photocrosslinked in the poled state to yield a material with stable optical nonlinearity. This approach is based on the inter- and intra- molecular photocrosslinking reactions of a photoreactive functionalized polymer. Since the second order susceptibility is directly proportional to the concentration of the nonlinear the polymer species and the temporal stability is dependent on the mobility of the nonlinear species in matrix, large and stable second order NLO properties are expected from these photocrosslinked polymers. In this communication, we report the synthesis and detailed characterization of this class of polymer.