High E-O coefficient polymers based on a chromophore containing isophorone moiety for second-order nonlinear optics

A high-mu beta chromophore APII utilizing isophorone as pi-conjugation bridge was processed into both PMMA guest host and crosslinked (XL) polyurethane network with various loading densities. High electro-optic coefficients, r(33) = 30 pm/V (in PMMA) and r(33) = 32 pm/V (in polyurethane) at 1.06 mu m were obtained. Alignment temporal stability ranged from 90 to 120 degrees C for XL polymer network. There is virtually no intrinsic absorption loss at 1.3 mu m (solution measurement). Also noteworthy is that high optimum loading densities of this chromophore are attainable in both cases without detectable chromophore aggregation due to intermolecular electrostatic interactions.