BISTABLE ORGANIC POLYMER NONLINEAR OPTICAL DEVICES

OPTICAL COMPUTING PROMISES TO EXCEED THE CAPABILITY OF PRESENT DAY MACHINES BY SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. MUCH HIGHER SPEEDS AND HIGH INFORMATION DENSITY MAKE OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY PROMISING FOR LARGER SCALEPARALLEL PROCESSING. NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIALS AND DEVICE FABRICATION TECHNOLOGIES ARE NEEDED TO REALIZE THE POTENTIAL. BISTABLE DEVICES ARE ONE APPROACH TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE. PROTOTYPE BISTABLE OPTICAL DEVICES ARE BEING INVESTIGATED USING THE HIGH NONLINEAR-SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THIN FILMS OF POLY-P-PHENYLENE BENZOBISTHIAZOLE (PBT). A PROCESS RECENTLY HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR PRODUCING THESE FILMS OF THE LIQUID CRYSTALLINE POLYMER PBT. THE X(E3) VALUES AND THE HIGH LASER DAMAGE OF THE MATERIAL MAKE IT A LEADING CANDIDATE FOR NONLINEAR OPTICAL DEVICES. TWO BISTABLE DEVICESARE BEING DEVELOPED EXPLOITING THE OPTICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MATERIAL.