ORGANIC NONLINEAR OPTICAL LIQUIDS FOR DEVICE APPLICATIONS

LIQUIDS WITH THE NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROPERTY OF INTENSITY DEPENDENT REFRACTIVE INDEX AT PICOSECOND SPEEDS TOGETHER WITH SUCH LINEAR OPTICAL PROPERTIES AS LOW ABSORPTION AND ADJUSTABLE INDEX ARE DESIRED FOR A NUMBER OF PRACTICAL DEVICE APPLICATIONS SUCH AS OPTICAL SWITCHING AND LASER HARDENING. FOSTER-MILLER IS ENGAGED IN RESEARCH TO DEVELOP A HIGH SPEED ALL-OPTICAL SWITCH FOR FIBER NETWORKS USING SUCH LIQUIDS. THE PROPOSED PHASE I RESEARCH WILL EXPLORE AND SCREEN A NEW CLASS OF ORGANIC HIGH-BETA/SOLVENT SYSTEMS IN WHICH SECOND ORDER NONLINEARITIES ARE CASCADED TO YIELD EFFECTIVE THIRD-ORDER PROPERTIES. RESULTING LIQUIDS ARE PREDICTED WHICH MAY HAVE INTENSITY DEPENDENT REFRACTIVE INDEX COEFFICIENTS EQUAL TO THE LARGEST KNOWN SOLID POLYMERS, OR 100X LARGER THAN CARBON DISULPHIDE, THE CURRENT STANDARD. ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH PROPOSED FOR PHASE I AND II INCLUDE LABORATORY SCREENING, MEASUREMENTS OF CHEMICAL, LINEAR AND NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROPERTIES, AND MOLECULAR MODELING BY COMPUTER.