Abstract
The long-term orientational stabilization of nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophores which have been preferentially aligned within a polymeric medium by electric field poling represents a crucial test of the extent to which polymer relaxation/physical aging can be controlled chemically and is of paramount importance to the development of efficient polymer-based second-order NLO materials.1 We recently reported2 an effective approach to chromophore immobilization which utilizes electricfield-induced alignment of high-βvec chromophores dispersed within a two-component epoxy matrix3 which is concurrently subjected to thermal cross-linking.4 The chromophores are found to exhibit higher levels of orientational stability within the cross-linked matrix, as evidenced by significantly improved second harmonic generation (SHG) temporal stability. Nevertheless, the SHG efficiency of such guest-host systems is severely limited by the low chromophore number densities and still less than optimum chromophore immobilizations which are practicable.2, 5 We communicate here the synthesis and implementation of a second generation epoxy-based NLO chromophore system in which a reactive high-βvec chromophore serves as both the NLO-active component and as the diamine cross-linking agent of the matrix (Scheme I). We also demonstrate that the SHG temporal stability of such materials can be enhanced significantly by employing an oligomeric epoxide reagent.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 965-968 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Chemistry of Materials |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1 1992 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
- Chemical Engineering(all)
- Materials Chemistry