Synthesis and properties of nonlinear optical polymers based on poly(etherimides) for electrooptical devices

Nonlinear optical poly(ether imides) with an adequate thermal stability has been synthesized by direct coupling of hydroxy poly(ether imides) and NLO chromophores with a quantitative yield. The resultant amorphous NLO poly(et her imides) exhibited good solubility in common organic solvents, providing optical-quality thin films by spin coating. The glass transition temperatu res of the polymers are at around 180 degrees C. The electrooptic coefficie nts (r(33), @1.3 mu m) of PEI-DR1 was 12.3 pm/V with an electrical poling f ield of 100 V/mu m and it decayed about 10 % over 10 months at 90 degrees C under atmospheric conditions.