ORDERED POLYMERS FOR NONLINEAR OPTICAL APPLICATIONS

NONLINEAR OPTICS (NLO) IS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR A VARIETY OF MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL NEEDS RANGING FROM NEW TYPES OF LASER WEAPONS TO FIBER OPTIC COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS. RAPID ADVANCES IN OPTICAL PHASE CONFIGURATION, OPTICAL SWITCHING AND LOGIC HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE ENORMOUS POTENTIAL FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS WITH CONCURRENT FAST-PACED MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT. A NEW CLASS OF ORGANIC MATERIALS CALLED ORDERED POLYMERS HAVE THE EXCELLENT INTRINSIC PROPERTIES AND TAILORABILITY TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF A WIDE RANGE OF NONLINEAR OPTICAL DEVICES. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM IS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY EFFORT TO TARGET KEY APPLICATIONS AND MATERIAL AND PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS FOR ORDERED POLYMERS. AS SUCH, THE PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE THE APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT NEEDED FOR THE TOTALLY NEW FIELD OF NLO DEVICES FROM ORGANIC POLYMERIC MATERIALS. THE RESULTS OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL BE USED TO DIRECT MATERIAL AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT AND BREADBOARD TESTING IN PHASE II.