SYNTHESIS OF FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTAL POLYMERS FOR NON-LINEAR OPTICS

VIRTUALLY ALL MATERIALS CURRENTLY USED FOR SECOND-ORDER NON-LINEAR OPTICAL (NLO) APPLICATIONS ARE CRYSTALLINE. ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE HIGH NLO SUSCEPTIBILITIES, LARGE CRYSTALS HAVE THE DISADVANTAGES OF BEINGBOTH DIFFICULT TO GROW AND SHOCKSENSITIVE. FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTALS (FLCS) CAN SELF-ASSEMBLE INTO MATERIALS CAPABLE OF NLO ACTIVITY, AND ARE ALSO EASILY MODIFIED. THE FLCS MADE TO DATE HAVE MODERATELY HIGH NLO PROPERTIES COMPARABLE TO THE MOST WIDELY-USED NLO CRYSTALS. HOWEVER, FLCS HAVE THESE NLO CAPABILITIES ONLY IN A NARROW TEMPERATURE RANGE. WE HEREIN PROPOSE A PATH OF RESEARCH BY WHICH FLCS CAN BE POLYMERIZED AND FROZEN INTO A USABLE, NLO-ACTIVE STATE, THEREBY FORMING EASILY MADE TEMPERATUREAND SHOCK-STABLE NLO-ACTIVE PLASTICS.