Highly efficient and stable bithiophene-based nonlinear optical chromophores for polymer electro-optic applications

Summary form only given. The continuous interest in poled electro-optic polymers for device applications in information processing and telecommunications has resulted in the development of several types of second-order nonlinear optical chromophores that are highly efficient, as characterized by their large scalar product of dipole moment (/spl mu/) and the molecular first-order hyperpolarizability (/spl beta/). It has been shown that incorporation of thiophene rings into the conjugated units can greatly enhance /spl mu//spl beta/ while permitting a high thermal stability. According to the general guideline for optimization of /spl mu//spl beta/, we reason that using bithiophene moieties, having a longer conjugation length than the monothiophene ones, should further increase /spl mu//spl beta/ while maintaining the thermal, chemical, and photochemical stability.