PHASE-MATCHED 2ND-HARMONIC GENERATION IN A 4-LAYERED POLYMERIC WAVE-GUIDE

Phase-matched second-harmonic generation is demonstrated in a four-lay ered polymeric waveguide structure. The waveguide consists of a glass substrate, a nonlinear-optical active poled polymer with a passive pol ymer as the waveguide core, and an air cover. The study of the linear- optical properties of this waveguide structure shows the possibility o f substantially reducing the waveguide propagation loss. Second-harmon ic generation experiments in transmission format show no loss in secon d-order susceptibility for the poled polymer layer after addition of t he passive polymer layer. The independent variation of the thickness o f the two polymer layers allows for simultaneous phase matching and ta iloring of the second-order nonlinear-optical susceptibility for the o ptimal overlap integral of the fundamental and the second-harmonic mod al field in the waveguide.