Polymer-based microcavity with photoencoded quadratic nonlinearity

Functional electro-optic polymer thin films embedded in microcavity structu res have been poled by an all-optical procedure based on the interference o f multiphoton absorption processes. The photoinduced chi((2)) tensor was th en further addressed at modal resonance for the fundamental wavelength, lea ding to significant enhancement of the second-harmonic-generation efficienc y. An order-of-magnitude enhancement, which is due to electric field resona nt conditions inside the microcavity, has been probed by an optical paramet ric oscillator, in comparison with a single-path thin-film configuration. T his configuration opens new perspectives in the realm of nonlinear photonic device processing. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 130.418 0, 190.4180, 230.1150, 230.3990, 250.2080.