SUPRAMOLECULAR 2ND-ORDER NONLINEARITY OF POLYMERS WITH ORIENTATIONALLY CORRELATED CHROMOPHORES

Nonlinear optical chromophores can be organized as orientationally cor related side groups of polymers with a rigid backbone. In such an orga nization, each chromophore contributes coherently to the second-order nonlinear response of the polymer structure. A first hyperpolarizabili ty exceeding 5000 x 10(-30) electrostatic units was measured for a pol y(isocyanide) structure containing similar to 100 chromophores by mean s of hyper-Rayleigh scattering. Electric field-induced second-harmonic generation measurements confirmed that the product of the permanent d ipole moment and the first hyperpolarizability was enhanced for the po lymer structure. These results provide guidelines for future efforts t o optimize supramolecular structures for applications in second-order nonlinear optics.