CHARACTERIZATION OF MULTILAYER NONLINEAR OPTICAL WAVE-GUIDES

A polymeric waveguide material with nonlinear optical properties is studied: crosslinked poly(methyl) methacrylate (PMMA) doped with N,N'-dihexyl-amino-nitrostilbene (DHANS). The fabrication and characterization of thin-film waveguides (2-4-mu-m) are demonstrated. The anisotropy of the refractive index and the damping of the films have been investigated by m-line spectroscopy and loss measurements. Thin polymeric multilayer structures, including a nonlinear optical core, sandwiched between buffer layers and electrodes have been produced. For these samples, the anisotropy of the refractive index in poled films are measured. Finally, two systems are compared: PMMA/DHANS and a side-chain polymer with the same nonlinear optical group.