POLYAZOMETHINE CONJUGATED POLYMER FILM WITH 2ND-ORDER NONLINEAR-OPTICAL PROPERTIES FABRICATED BY ELECTRIC-FIELD-ASSISTED CHEMICAL-VAPOR DEPOSITION

We fabricated polyazomethine head-to-tail conjugated polymer films with second order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties using a dry-processing technique, electric-field-assisted chemical vapor deposition (E-CVD). Molecular orbital calculations show that the polyazomethine conjugated polymer chain, to which methoxy groups are attached as donors, has second order NLO susceptibility, beta, 3-5 times larger than that of paranitroaniline. During film deposition the monomers were ordered by an electric field applied between slit-type electrodes, and simultaneously polymerized. A channel waveguide for the TE mode of a He-Ne laser beam was formed in a polymer film between the electrode gap. An electro-optic (EO) effect in the polymer film was observed using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. This indicates that head-to-tail conjugated polymers would be promising for second order NLO materials.