Fully functionalized photorefractive polymethacrylates with net gain at 780 nm

We report on the synthesis and characterization of three fully functionaliz ed photorefractive polymethacrylates containing different chromophores. Car bazole- and NLO-functionalized methacrylate monomers in a 1:1 ratio were po lymerized with 20 mol % of dodecyl methacrylate to obtain photorefractive p olymers. The resulting polymers had glass transition temperatures of 48, 47 , and 52 degrees C, respectively. Asymmetric two-beam-coupling and four-wav e-mixing experiments at 780 nm and three different temperatures pointed out that the resulting polymers, doped with 1 wt % (2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenyl idene)malononitrile (TNFDM), showed good photorefractive properties. A net two-beam coupling gain and a diffraction efficiency of 60% were observed at 58 V/mu m.