THERMALLY STABLE POLYESTER POLYMERS FOR 2ND-ORDER NONLINEAR OPTICS

We report electro-optic and thermal stability properties of a novel th ermostable fluorene-based polyester polymer. The electro-optic coeffic ient, r33, at 810 nm is 2.6 pm/V for a poling field of 0.5 MV/cm. This value is comparable to that obtained from many reported side-chain po lymers. Isothermal decay measurements of the charge transfer absorptio n band and electro-optic effect demonstrate that the chemical stabilit y of the fluorene molecule appears to dominate over orientational rela xation in the decline of the electro-optic response at elevated temper atures.