Novel Multifunctional Polymeric Composites for Photonics

Abstract

Multifunctional materials will play an important role in the development of Photonics Technology. This paper describes novel multifunctional polymeric composites for applications in both active and passive photonic components. On the molecular level, we have introduced multifunctionality by design and synthesis of chromophores which by themselves exhibit more than one functionality. At the bulk level, we have introduced the concept of a "multiphasic nanostructured composites" where phase separation is controlled in the nanometer range to produce optically transparent bulk in which each domain produces a specific photonic function. Results are presented from the studies of up-converted twophoton lasing, two-photon confocal microscopy, optical power limiting, photorefractivity and optical channel waveguides to illustrate the application of the multifunctional optical composites.The development of Photonics or Optical Technology is crucially dependent on the availability of materials which can simultaneously exhibit more than one property. These are multifunctional materials. MultifÀinctionality is exhibited by a material when it simultaneously performs two or more different functions. Also, a combination of two different functionalities can give rise to a new effect useful for photonics technology. An example is photorefractivity which is produced by the combined action of nonlinear electro-optic effect and photoconductivity. In this paper, the nanostructure control used in our laboratory to introduce multifunctionality will be presented. On the molecular level, we have introduced multifunctionality by design and synthesis of chromophores which by themselves exhibit more than one functionality (1). Examples are chromophores which show strong two-photon absorption and strong fluorescence. We have utilized the combined action of these two functions to achieve up-conversion lasing (1-4). We have also designed and synthesized segmented co-polymers and sidechain co-polymers consisting of different groups which perform different functions. Thus we have produced multifunctional photorefractive polymers which exhibit both