Thermal stability of NLO effects in polymers

Abstract

Nonlinear optical (NLO) effects and their thermal stability in different polymers after corona or electron-beam poling are investigated by electro-optical coefficient measurement and by pyroelectric thermal analysis. Tested materials are a guest-host polymer of Disperse Red 1 (DR1) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), a side-chain polymer of PMMA with DR1 side groups, a side-chain styrene-maleic anhydride co-polymer with DR1 side groups, and a cross-linked side-chain polymer Red-Acid Magly. The experimental results indicate that NLO effects in electron-beam poled samples are comparable with those in corona poled samples, while the thermal stability of the electron-beam poled materials is still low in the present stage. The reasons for the lower thermal stability of electron-beam poled samples and a possible way to overcome it are discussed.