NOVEL ORGANIC POLYMERS AS NONLINEAR OPTICAL MATERIALS FOR WAVELENGTH CONVERSION

A NEW CLASS OF OPTICALLY NONLINEAR ORGANIC POLYMERS ARE PROPOSED FOR USE IN WAVELENGTH CONVERSION DEVICES. A NOVEL INVENTION ALLOWS THE CREATION OF PHASE MATCHED STRUCTURES IN THESE MATERIALS FOR IMPROVED CONVERSION EFFICIENCY. THE POLYMERS IN QUESTION WILL BE SYNTHESIZED AND SPIN-COATED ON SUITABLE SUBSTRATES AND ELECTRICALLY POLED BY THE CORONA POLING TECHNIQUE. AFTER A PROPRIETARY STABILIZATION PROCESS, BOTH LINEAR AND NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE RESULTING FILMS WILL BE MEASURED BY STANDARD TECHNIQUES. PRELIMINARY OPTICAL MEASUREMENTS ON PROTOTYPE PHASE MATCHED DEVICES WILL ALSO BE MADE. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - IN ADDITION TO THE FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE ON NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROCESSES IN POLYMERS THAT WILL BE GAINED THROUGH THIS STUDY, SIGNIFICANT PRACTICAL BENEFITS ARE EXPECTED TO FOLLOW. DUE TO THE COMPATIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED INVENTION WITH PLANAR SEMICONDUCTOR FABRICATION, WAVELENGTH CONVERSION DEVICES OF THIS TYPE SHOULD FIND WIDE APPLICATION IN BOTH DISCRETE EMITTERFREQUENCY DOUBLER SYSTEMS AND INTEGRATED OPTICAL CIRCUITS ANDSUBSYSTEMS.