Fabrication and optical testing of hybrid SiO2: azo-polymer based planar waveguides for NLO/SHG laser emission

Predesigned push-pull azo-dye polymers were homogeneously dispersed within a SiO2 sol-gel matrix synthesized via the sonogel (SG) route. High-quality spin-coated films were obtained with these hybrid structures in the liquid sol-phase. The spectroscopic UV- Vis analyses reveal the appropriate insertion of these organic compounds within the highly pure SG-environment whereas the thermal (DSC) analysis and photoacoustic measurements evidence the thermomechanical stability of the amorphous hybrid layers. As the optical attenuation, refractive index and film thickness values of the obtained films are adequate for opto-electronic applications; these hybrid films were implemented to fabricate optical waveguiding prototypes. In this sense, functional planar waveguides were fabricated for nonlinear optical (NLO) applications after performing a molecular ordering via a corona DC-poling procedure in order to achieve a macroscopic polar order (ferroelectric and noncentrosymmetric arrangement of the organic chromophores). The poled films were then able to exhibit stable NLO-waveguiding effects as excited with a Nd:YAG laser system in order to generate second harmonic waves travelling within the planar layer.