Solution phase-assisted reorientation of chromophores

Organic electro-optic materials, or "EO polymers," offer much higher nonlinearities than traditional crystalline materials, making these materials ideal for next generation electro-optic modulators. These materials require an additional processing step known as poling, which reorients the chromophores through the application of a high electric field. This effort will focus on corona poling, where a gas is ionized and the electric field across the sample is applied through the relocation of charged ions. The proposed technique avoids the need to raise the temperature of the material by applying the electric field while the material is deposited in solution phase. This process can overcome the thermal stability tradeoff in many organic electro-optic materials, and preliminary results indicate this process results in an enhancement in the electro-optic activity of the material.