Poled polymers and their nonlinear optics

Abstract

In recent years, poled polymers have attracted great interest due to their applications in optics, physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine. Organic second order nonlinear optical (SNLO) is a typical application of poled polymers. In this paper, the synthesis methods, orientation techniques of chromophores, and SNLO device applications are reviewed. Different molecular structures of SNLO have been described in detail, such as dendrimers, hyperbranched polymers, and dendronized hyperbranched polymers. Hyperbranched polymers and dendronized hyperbranched polymers with better topology are considered as the next-generation efficient nonlinear optical materials. Several orientation methods have also been mentioned, including electric field poling, optical poling, and molecular self-assembly, and the mechanism, research progress, advantages, and disadvantages of these are described in detail. On this basis, applications in the fields of light wave frequency conversion, optical signal processing, chemical biosensors, and medicine are reviewed.