All-Optical Nonlinearities in Organics

Recognition that organic solids possess some of the largest all-optical nonlinearities of all known materials has resulted in an interdisciplinary effort directed at both the basic understanding and exploitation of these effects. Parallel efforts on inorganic semiconductors have already reached a mature stage whereby the origin of the effects, together with the prospects for device applications, are well known and appreciated. In this article, a unified picture of nonlinear optical phenomena in both classes of materials is presented. The specific implications for organic-based optical devices are discussed.