NOVEL AROMATIC POLYIMIDES FOR NONLINEAR OPTICS

A generic approach to high temperature stable, functionalized polyimides for nonlinear optics has been developed and the resulting polyimides exhibit excellent temporal stability in dipole orientation at elevated temperatures, such as 150{degrees}C. Large second harmonic generation coefficients and electro-optic coefficients have been achieved. These polyimides exhibit good solubility in common organic solvents and can be easily processed into thin films. A variety of nonlinear optical chromophores have been incorporated into the polyimide backbones, which enabled us to systematically study the structure-property relationship.