Synthesis and the third-order non-linear optical properties of new azobenzene-containing side-chain polymers

Abstract A new series of aromatic azobenzol compounds containing vinyl have been designed as monomers. The azobenzene-containing side-chain polymers containing azo NLO chromophore in each side chain have been synthesized via free radical polymerization. FT-IR, elemental analysis and 1 H NMR were performed to characterize the azo monomers. The molecular weight of the polymers and their distribution were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The third-order NLO coefficient of azo monomers and their polymers were measured by degenerated four wave mixing (DFWM) technique. As a result, the enhancement of the molecular conjugation and the increase of the NLO chromophore concentration in the molecular chain contribute much to heightening the third-order NLO effect. The electronic effect of substituent on the azobenzol group and the push–pull electronic structure contributes much to enhancing the NLO property.

[1]  Lin Qiu,et al.  Low-power phase conjugation in push-pull azobenzene compounds. , 1995, Optics letters.

[2]  C. Egami,et al.  Efficient Optical Phase Conjugation in Methyl-Orange-Doped Polyvinyl Alcohol Film , 1992 .

[3]  Xiaogong Wang,et al.  Epoxy-Based Nonlinear Optical Polymers Functionalized with Tricyanovinyl Chromophores , 1997 .

[4]  Yongming Cai,et al.  Two-step synthesis of side-chain aromatic polyimides for second-order nonlinear optics , 1996 .

[5]  Mark W. Becker,et al.  Large and Stable Nonlinear Optical Effects Observed for a Polyimide Covalently Incorporating a Nonlinear Optical Chromophore , 1994 .

[6]  Yong Hyub Won,et al.  Synthesis and properties of nonlinear optical side chain soluble polyimides for photonics applications , 1998 .

[7]  W. Blau,et al.  Picosecond optical phase conjugation using conjugated organic molecules , 1988 .

[8]  H. Shim,et al.  Second-order nonlinear optical properties and relaxation dynamics of aligned cross-linked polyurethanes with hemicyanine-type chromophores , 1998 .

[9]  Antao Chen,et al.  A cross-linkable polyimide for second-order optical nonlinearities , 1995 .

[10]  Donal D. C. Bradley,et al.  Third Harmonic Generation in Precursor Route Poly(p-Phenylene Vinylene) , 1989 .

[11]  Ryszard Burzynski,et al.  Photorefractive Polymers and Composites , 1996 .

[12]  Jiann T. Lin,et al.  Poled polymeric nonlinear optical materials. Exceptional second harmonic generation temporal stability of a chromophore-functionalized polyimide , 1992 .

[13]  Ivan V. Tomov,et al.  Degenerate four-wave mixing in azo-dye-doped polymer films , 1991 .

[14]  Robert R. Alfano,et al.  Third-order optical nonlinearity in polycondensed thiophene-based polymers and polysilane polymers , 1989 .

[15]  B. Zysset,et al.  Modified polyimide side-chain polymers for electrooptics , 1994 .

[16]  H Fei,et al.  Biphoton holographic storage in Methyl Orange and Ethyl Orange dyes. , 1994, Optics letters.