Charge-transfer polymers: a new class of materials for nonlinear optics

Holographic recording has been demonstrated in conducting polymer/C60 blends. These materials allow ultrafast holographic recording and the ability to tailor the decay dynamics of the recorded hologram. Diffraction efficiencies up to 1.6 percent have been measured in these materials for gratings recorded with individual laser pulses. Results are presented that demonstrate that an improved signal-to-noise ratio is obtained when holographic detection is used to observe the dynamics of photo-induced absorption.