ORGANIC NONLINEAR MATERIALS FOR WAVELENGTH CONVERSION

IN RECENT YEARS MOLECULAR ENGINEERING HAS LED TOTHE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC CRYSTALS THAT POSSESS NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROPERTIES COMPARABLE TO OR EVEN BETTER THAN THOSE OF INORGANIC MATERIALS KNOWN SO FAR. THE 3-METHYL-4-METHOXY-4'-NITROSTILBENE (MMONS) IS REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING ORGANIC NONLINEAR OPTICAL CRYSTALS. IT HAS A CONVERSION EFFICIENCY 100 TIMES HIGHER THAN INORGANIC CRYSTAL KTP, BUT FREQUENCY DOUBLING IS ONLY SUITABLE FOR FUNDAMENTAL WAVELENGTHS LONGER THAN 1064 NM BECAUSE 532 NM IS CLOSED TO ABSORPTION EDGES. IN ORDER TO BENEFIT FREQUENCY CONVERSION (TO BLUE-GREEN) FOR LOW POWER LASER, SUCH AS SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND DIODE-PUMPED SOLID STATE LASER, NEW ORGANIC NONLINEAR MATERIALS WITH HIGH NONLINEARITIES, HIGH DAMAGE THRESHOLDS, MUST BE DESIGNED WITH A BETTER BLUE-SHIFT TRANSPARENCY RANGE COMPARED TO CRYSTAL MMONS. E-TEK PROPOSES TO INVESTIGATETHE SYNTHESIS OF A NEW MATERIALS, CRYSTAL GROWTH IN BULK FORM, CORED FIBER AND THIN FILM. FURTHERMORE, THEIR PROPERTIES WILL BE CHARACTERIZED AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN OPTOELECTRONIC AREAS EXPLORED. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - NEWLY DESIGNED ORGANIC NONLINEAR MATERIALS HAVE POTENTIAL APPLICATION IN FREQUENCY CONVERSION, OPTICAL COMMUNICATION, SIGNAL PROCESSING, ETC. THEY WILL BE ESPECIALLY SUITABLE FOR DOUBLING THE OUTPUT OF LOW POWER LASERS, SUCH AS DIODE-PUMPED SOLID STATE LASERS AND SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS WITH FUNDAMENTAL WAVELENGTHS OF 0.90 \ 1.6 UM IN ORDER TO GENERATE NEW LASER SOURCES.