Minority Research Planning Grant: Precision Poling of Dye-Doped Polymers Using Ion Beam Irradiation

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9706398 Ghebremichael The effects of implantation of light ions in nonlinear optical polvmers will be studied. The optical nonlinearity in the polymers is achieved by doping the optically inactive polymers with nonlinear optical chromophores. Nonlinear optical polymers, when first processed, usually have an isotropic bulk svmmetry. For such polymers to be used in second order nonlinear optical applications, where bulk asymmetry is required, the configuration of the chromophores has to be altered. The orientational orders of the ion irradiation-induced orientational order is expected to be large because the ion deposition depth, thus any chemical or physical reaction, is highly localized and determined by the ion beam energy. The relaxation time after ion implantation induced order is also expected to significantly increase, compared with the techniques currently employed, because this method is virtually temperature independent. Nonlinear optical studies, such as second harmonic generation, electrooptic effect, and z-scan techniques will be used to estimate the degree of ion irradiation induced asymmetry in bulk samples and waveguide devices. Furthermore, standard studies of linear optical and mechanical properties should reveal the effects of the irradiation on the integrity of the poled systems. ***