Accession Number:

ADA278245

Title:

Organosilicon Polymeric Nonlinear Optical Materials for Optical Switching and Modulation

Corporate Author:

MOLECULAR TECHNOLOGIES INC LOWELL MA

Report Date:

1994-02-28

Abstract:

The objective of the project was to develop new polymeric materials for second-order nonlinear optical NLO applications, specifically electro- optic applications. Alkoxysiloxane derivatives of organic azo dye chromophores were synthesized and used to prepare NLO siloxanes by the sol-gel reaction with a siloxane polymer. The dipole moments and polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of the chromophores were calculated by semi-empirical quantum mechanical modeling. A novel approach using interpenetrating polymer networks IPN combining a sol-gel based NLO siloxane with a thermally crosslinkable NLO azo dye attached epoxy network, as stable second-order NLO materials was also introduced. In two of these systems, the addition of another crosslinkable azo dye component to boost the NLO density was investigated. The materials were processed into thin films on substrates and simultaneously oriented by corona poling and thermally cured at temperatures up to 220 deg C. The NLO siloxanes showed relatively weak optical nonlinearities while the electro-optic coefficients of the IPN systems were reasonable large and temporal stability was excellent-the materials showing considerable promise for practical applications.

Descriptive Note:

Final technical rept. 15 Jul 1993-14 Jan 1994

Supplementary Note:

Availability: AFOSR/PKA, 110 Duncan Ave., Ste B115, Bolling AFB, Washington, DC 20332-0001. No copies furnished by DTIC/NTIS.

Pages:

0033

Communities Of Interest:

Distribution Statement:

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Contract Number:

F49620-93-C-0039

File Size:

1.48MB