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Characterizing and Circumventing Intermolecular Electrostatic Interactions in Highly Electro-Optic Polymers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Aaron W. Harper
Affiliation:
Departments of Chemistry and of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1661
Jingsong Zhu
Affiliation:
Departments of Chemistry and of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1661
Mingqian He
Affiliation:
Departments of Chemistry and of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1661
Larry R. Dalton
Affiliation:
Departments of Chemistry and of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1661
Sean M. Garner
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0483
William H. Steier
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0483
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Abstract

In general, polymers possessing non-resonant electro-optic activities exceeding 20 pm/V require chromophores with strong electron withdrawing groups (cyanovinyls, carbon acid moieties, etc.) as well as highly polarizable bridges. Although much progress has been made on designing and preparing materials with molecular “electrooptic” activities, their incorporation into polymers to show comparably large bulk electro-optic activities has been met with little success. We report here the mature of the difficulty of the translation of microscopic to macroscopic electro-optic activity. The optimization of molecular activity increases intermolecular electrostatic interactions between chromophores, and these interactions impede induction of polar acentric order in the polymers. Theoretical analysis of the problem is presented, as well as one example of a material that is designed to circumvent these interactions. The resulting material possesses electro-optic coefficients as high as 29 pm/V and optical losses as low as 1.5 dB/cm.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

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