Abstract

Dye-doped polymers and polymers with covalently attached nonlinear-oplical (NLO) moieties have demonstrated that large second-order susceptibilities in polymers are achievable.^1–3 For practical applications, the stability of χ⁽²⁾ at elevated temperatures and the ease of processing into guided wave structures are equally important and need to be addressed. Recently, it has been reported that thermally cross-linked epoxy polymers⁴ are stable at temperatures above 100°C. Thermally crosslinked NLO polymers, however, require several hours of high-temperature curing under a high electric field. This often leads to deterioration of the optical quality of the films.

© 1991 Optical Society of America