Multifunctional Heterostructures for Photonics

The objective of the research performed was: (1) development of electrooptic polymers which are usable in the visible, (2) use of sol-gel chemistry to improve on processability and bulk characteristics for waveguide applications, and (3) introduction of multifunctionality by composite approach. These objectives were met. For second-order nonlinearity needed for electrooptic effects, we had great success in the design of new types of chromophores with enhanced X(2) and transparency in the visible. Our unique contributions are: (1) inorganic:organic composites for nonlinear optics; (2) successful poling of molecular-ionic polymers with high nonlinearity; (3) novel processing to produce poled sol-gel silica/titania doped with electrooptic chromophores; (4) planar optical waveguides using sol-gel processing; and (5) combination of electrooptic function with photoconductivity to produce photorefractive polymers with a figure of merit comparable to that of existing inorganic photorefractive systems. The Langmuir-Blodgett method of film deposition was also investigated. The advantage of this method is that it provides a higher order parameter than a poled structure.