A new refractive index imaging media system is described, based on the photoinitiated isomerization of dewarbenzene derivatives in a solid polymer medium. The system can exhibit a refractive index contrast as high as 0.02, with low dimensional changes on recording. Furthermore, the medium is highly sensitive because the recording process is chemically amplified, that is, many product molecules are formed per photon absorbed. The change in refractive index occurs spontaneously under blue or UV irradiation; no subsequent processing is required. This system may find applications in holographic recording and for integrated optical devices. For example, many spatially overlapping holographic diffraction gratings were recorded (angular multiplexing) in the material in the same volume.
Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films have been fabricated from a preformed acrylate amphiphilic copolymer with nonlinear optical (NLO) active chromophores covalently attached to the polymer backbone. By alternate deposition of this NLO active polymer with an NLO passive amphiphilic polymer, high quality multilayer films have been obtained with sufficient thickness to allow waveguiding in the LB films. The observed optical attenuation is between 1 and 3 dB cm-1. The linear and nonlinear optical characteristics of these films have been determined, both in transmission (or reflection) and in waveguide format. The high degree of order in LB films makes this type of supramolecular structure attractive for NLO applications. Based on the observed parameters (dispersion of the refractive indices, birefringence, tilt angle of the chromophore, hyperpolarizability), different phase-matching schemes can result in efficient second harmonic generation.
Langmuir-Blodgett films have been fabricated of a prepolymerized amphiphile containing a chromophore of high second-order nonlinear optical activity. Thick films, containing as many as 262 layers of noncentrosymmetric structure have been prepared by alternate deposition of the dye polymer and several different materials. In contrast to previous literature reports on Langmuir-Blodgett films of other polymeric dyes, these films show the theoretically expected quadratic dependence of second harmonic generation with film thickness. Polarization studies of the second harmonic generation demonstrate that the chromophores are highly ordered in these films. In addition, by using all-polymeric materials it has been possible to fabricate a waveguide of these films with optical attenuation of about 1 dB cm-1, substantially lower than has been previously reported for Langmuir-Blodgett films even without a noncentrosymmetric structure.
We have prepared Langmuir-Blodgett monolayer and multilayer films of a polymeric amphiphile with a side chain containing a chromophore of high molecular hyperpolarizability for second order nonlinear optics. Using optical techniques including polarized transmission and attenuated total reflectance spectroscopies, second harmonic generation, and ellipsometry, we have characterized the orientational order of the chromophore and other polymer groups in the films. The high degree of chromophoric order seen in these films indicates that such polymers are good candidates as materials to fabricate Langmuir-Blodgett films for nonlinear optical applications.
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