Electro-Optic Properties Of New Nonlinear Side-Chain Polymers

A new Green's function method of analyzing Maker fringes from second-harmonic generation experiments was used to determine the nonlinear properties of corona-poled polymer films. Electro-optic properties were determined by fashioning the polymers into planar waveguides on silicon substrates and measuring the polarization rotation induced by the electro-optic effect. The two measurements were compared to test the applicability of the two-level model in the polymer system. Waveguide-loss measurements were performed on the same substrates by launching a guided wave via the prism method and monitoring the scattered light with a CCD video camera. Both guest-host and side-chain polymers were studied in this way. The advantages of the side-chain polymer over the guest-host polymer mixture are higher molar concentration of the nonlinear species, decreased mobility and greater overall film homogeneity.