Photocrosslinked second order nonlinear optical polymers
AssigneeUniversity of Lowell
InventorsBraja K. Mandal, Sukant K. Tripathy, Jan-Chuan Huang, Jayant Kumar
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Abstract
A novel photocrosslinkable polymeric system has been developed for processing into films having stable second-order nonlinear optical properties. In the present system, polymers bearing photo-crosslinkable chromophores, such as polyvinylcinnamate and are reacted with appropriately designed nonlinear optical molecules with the cinnamate or other photocrosslinkable functionalities for photocrosslinking at one, two or more points. The system can be poled and photocrosslinked in the poled state to yield a material with stable optical nonlinearity and large electro-optic coefficients.
Claims14
A method of forming a crosslinked nonlinear optical polymer, comprising the steps of:
- a) forming a solution of,
- i) a nonlinear optical component which includes at least two photosensitive functional groups, and
- ii) a host polymer component which includes a plurality of photosensitive functional groups;
- b) exposing the solution to an electric field which causes poling of the nonlinear optical component;
- and
- c) exposing the solution to sufficient electromagnetic radiation to cause the photosensitive functional groups of the host polymer component to react with the photosensitive functional groups of the nonlinear optical component to cause the nonlinear optical component to crosslink the host polymer component, thereby forming a photocrosslinked nonlinear optical polymer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.