New stilbene compounds for nonlinear optics

New organic dyes containing as well a stilbene as an azomethine unit have been synthesized. Some of the compounds show liquid crystalline behavior with interesting phase sequences. Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) Experiments on polymer films consisting of a mixture of poly(methylmetacrylate) (PMMA) with 1% dye show values for the nonlinear optical coefficient in the range of 0.17 - 0.27 pm/V.