OPTICAL SWITCHING USING NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYMERIC ORGANIC MATERIALS

AS A GROWING CLASS OF NOVEL ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, CONDUCTING POLYMERS MUST BE EVALUATED AS FAST RESPONSE NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIALS. WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT A SERIES OF STUDIES WITH THREE FOCAL POINTS DESIGNED TO UTILIZE NONLINEAR SEMICONDUCTING POLYMERS. THIS WOULD INCLUDE: (A) A DETAILED SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF NONLINEAR MEASUREMENTS (THIRD HARMONIC GENERATION, 3AND 4-WAVE MIXING, DC FIELD-INDUCED SECOND HARMONIC GENERATION, ETC) TO CHARACTERIZE AND EVALUATE THESE POLYMERS AS NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIALS; (B) A SERIES OF STUDIES INVOLVING OPTICAL SWITCHING AND LOGIC DEVICES BASED ON PICOSECOND COUPLING OF HIGH-SPEED SIGNALS TO AND FROM THE THE NONLINEAR CONDUCTING POLYMERS STUDIED IN (A) AND A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE FABRICATION OF OPTICAL QUALITY THIN-FILM AND CHANNEL WAVEGUIDES; AND (C) A PROGRAM OF MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT DESIGNED TO PRODUCE OPTICAL QUALITY UNIFORM ORIENTED FILMS OF THESE SEMICONDUCTOR POLYMERS AND ANISOTROPIC (LINEAR AND NONLINEAR) OPTICAL PROPERTIES, IN ORDER TO EXTEND THE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED IN (B) TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF WAVEGUIDE MODULATION AND SWITCHING DEVICES, AND EXPLORATION OF SUCH CONCEPTS FOR NOVEL DESIGNS OF ULTRAHIGH-SPEED OPTICAL SWITCHING, SIGNAL PROCESSING, AND LOGIC OPERATION IN COMPACT POLYMERIC DEVICES.