Assessment of polymeric materials for second-harmonic generation and electro-optic applications

The utility of polymeric materials for second-harmonic generation and electro-optic applications is discussed. For second-harmonic generation the importance of reducing chromophore absorption is described. For electro-optic materials the importance of identifying polymer systems with temperature stable nonlinear properties is emphasized. In addition, a remarkable relationship between electric-field poled-order stability and glass transition temperature is presented.