Nonlinear optical polymers and their applications

The author discusses polymers exhibiting second order nonlinear optical (NLO) phenomena, such as the linear electro-optic effect, whereby the refractive index varies linearly with an applied electric field, and second harmonic generation (SHG), where light of frequency ω is converted to light of frequency 2 ω. In order for a polymer to exhibit these effects, its constituent molecules must, in part, possess a finite molecular non-linearity, and these NLO molecules must be arranged non-centrosymmetrically so that their individual effects do not cancel. The linear electro-optic effect with its application as a fast response modulator is examined