Optical Interferometric Characterization of Nonlinear Optical Polymer Thin Films

The linear electro-optic (EO) effect is one of the second-order nonlinear optical effects existing in a noncentrosymmetric macroscopic system. In a polymer thin film, the noncentrosymmetry is achieved by electric field poling. The magnitude of the linear EO response is determined through the orientational distribution function of hyperpolarizable molecular dipoles. The relation between the linear EO coefficient and the second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility is explained. Three different methods of measuring the linear EO coefficient of a poled nonliner optical polymer thin film are introduced and discussed. All of them make use of the interferometric technique, the difference being in the optical parameters which are interfering.