Piezoelectrical experiments on poled nonlinear optical polymers

Poled nonlinear optical polymers are molecular dipole electrets and must therefore exhibit pyro- and piezoelectricity. As a complement to pyroelectrical techniques, piezoelectrical investigations may offer additional possibilities for looking into the physical mechanisms of various effects found in poled polymers. First results of ongoing piezoelectrical experiments are described and discussed. In particular, the direct and the inverse piezoelectric responses of nonlinear optical guest-host and side-chain polymers were obtained from acousto-electric and interferometric measurements, respectively. This research may eventually shed new light on more fundamental aspects such as e.g. indirect contributions to the electro-optical response in poled polymers as well as on more practical features such as the application of piezo- and elasto-optical effects in polymer-waveguide devices.