Synthesis and characterization of poly(p-phenylene)s with nonlinear optical side chains

A highly substituted side chain NLO poly(p-phenylene) (approximately 70.1 wt % NLOphore) has been prepared by the nickel-catalyzed coupling of 4′-(N,N-diethylamino)-2,5-dichlorobenzophenone. Poly((4′-N,N-diethylamino)-2,5-benzophenone), PDEABP, is a modest molecular weight material (Mn = 5300) that is thermally stable up to 400 °C with a glass transition temperature of 186 °C. The system showed virtually no decay of SHG at 100 °C hours after removal of the corona poling field. A stretched exponential was used to fit the relaxation data. At 170 °C, the SHG decayed to 1/e of its initial value with a relaxation time of τ = 120 min. PDEABP exhibits a nonlinear coefficient of d33 = 67.8±20 pm/V.

Duke Scholars

Author Darlene Kimber Taylor Obstetrics and Gynecology