Pulse poling of high performance nonlinear chromophores in polymers

James Westphal; Antao Chen; Nathaniel Burt; Lih Lin; Larry Dalton; Jingdong Luo; Alex K.-Y. Jen

doi:10.1117/12.698378

14 September 2006 Pulse poling of high performance nonlinear chromophores in polymers

James Westphal, Antao Chen, Nathaniel Burt, Lih Lin, Larry Dalton, Jingdong Luo, Alex K.-Y. Jen

Proceedings Volume 6331, Linear and Nonlinear Optics of Organic Materials VI; 63310H (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.698378
Event: SPIE Optics + Photonics, 2006, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Conjugated chromophores with permanent dipole moments can be aligned by heating a thin polymer film containing chromophores in an external electric field. The heated "guest-host" system is then cooled in the field to maintain the chromophores' alignment. Dielectric breakdown and charge transfer, however, often limit the external electric field to about 100 V/μm of film thickness. It was hypothesized that electrical pulses could increase the voltage of the poling field without damaging the sample films. This was achieved by combining an amplified waveform from a function generator with the DC poling field. Pulse amplitudes were varied from 10 to 10³ V. Pulse frequencies were varied from 10^-1 to 10³ Hz with a duty cycle of up to 50% of the pulse period. Pulse amplitudes were found to have optimum effects at less than 15% of the DC field at low frequencies, 0.1-10 Hz, with a sinusoidal pulse shape. It was found that this technique induced up to a 20% improvement in optical properties without damaging the sample films.

Citation Download Citation

James Westphal, Antao Chen, Nathaniel Burt, Lih Lin, Larry Dalton, Jingdong Luo, and Alex K.-Y. Jen "Pulse poling of high performance nonlinear chromophores in polymers", Proc. SPIE 6331, Linear and Nonlinear Optics of Organic Materials VI, 63310H (14 September 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.698378

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available