SYNTHESIS AND OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF NOVEL SIDE-CHAIN NLO ORGANIC-INORGANIC POLYMERS VIA SOL-GEL PROCESS

Abstract

Novel side chain NLO organic/inorganic polymers were developed by sol-gel process of dye-contained triethoxysilane with tetraethoxysilane. A NLO moiety based on 4-[N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-4-nitrostilbene (diol-DANS) was covalently bounded to the triethoxysilane derivative. The sol-gel derived NLO polymers were analyzed by analytic techniques, including FT-IR, TGA, solid state Si-29-NMR, SEM, etc. The incorporation of the DANS dye into silicon oxide networks induces high dimensional stability of dipole alignment and the easy film fabrication. They exhibited a significant improvement in the thermal stability at high temperatures exceeding 270 degrees C. The electro-optic coefficient at 1.3 mu m is 4.3 pm/V for the copolymer containing 50 wt% of the dye-contained triethoxysilane system poled with corona discharge and is shown excellent long-term stability with 80% of initial value even after 3 hrs at 150 degrees C.