NOVEL POLYMERIC PHOTOREFRACTIVE MATERIAL FOR OPTICAL DATA PROCESSING

REAL TIME THIN FILM HOLOGRAPHIC ELEMENTS ARE CRUCIAL COMPONENTS IN A NUMBER OF OPTICAL DATA PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES. THERE IS A NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIALS TO RECORD BOTH PERMANENT AND RECONFIGURABLE HOLOGRAMS. RECENTLY, POLYMERIC PHOTOREFRACTIVE MATERIALS HAVE EVOKED A LOT OF INTEREST AS INEXPENSIVE HOLOGRAPHIC MEDIA. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A NEW CLASS OF POLYMERIC PHOTOREFRACTIVE MATERIALS WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO SURPASS THE POLYMERIC PHOTOREFRACTIVE MATERIALS SO FAR REPORTED BOTH IN SPEED AND SENSITIVITY. THE POLYMERIC MATERIALS USED IN THIS WORK ARE CONJUGATED POLYMERS WHICH HAVE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SEMICONDUCTOR. THESE POLYMERS ARE FUNCTIONALIZED WITH SECOND ORDER NONLINEAR OPTICAL CHROMOPHORES AND CROSSLINKING GROUPS TO PROVIDE STABLE SECOND ORDER NONLINEARITY AFTER POLING AND CROSSLINKING. CHARGE TRANSPORT AND DIELECTRIC CONSTANT CAN BE TAILORED BY APPROPRIATE CHOICE OF DOPANTS. THE PHOTOREFRACTIVE POLYMER SYNTHESIZED IS BEING PURIFIED AND PROCESSED INTO THIN FILMS. THESE MATERIALS ARE BEING CHARACTERIZED FOR THEIR LINEAR AND NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROPERTIES AND PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY. DIFFRACTION EFFICIENCY MEASUREMENTS ARE BEING PERFORMED TO EVALUATE THESE MATERIALS AS A DYNAMIC HOLOGRAPHIC MEDIUM.