Edgars Nitiss

Stereoselective synthesis and properties of 1,3-bis(dicyanomethylidene)indane-5-carboxylic acid acceptor fragment containing nonlinear optical chromophores

A series of organic push–pull type chromophores using indane-1,3-dione 5-carboxylic acid (IDCA) and novel 1,3-bis(dicyanomethylidene)indane 5-carboxylic acid (CICA) electron acceptor fragments have been synthesized and characterized. NMR and X-ray analysis revealed that condensation reactions with the CICA fragment were stereoselective and yielded benzylidenes and azomethines with E double bond configurations. Due to the non-planar geometry these compounds are chiral and were acquired as a racemic mixture. The subsequent functionalization of the carboxylic acid group with 5,5,5-triphenylpentan-1-ol yielded solution-processable glass forming materials (6, 8, 10, 13) with glass transition temperature values of 76–134 °C. The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of these compounds were characterized using quantum chemical calculations and second harmonic generation (SHG) measurements in corona-poled thin glassy films. The twisted geometry of the CICA based materials was shown to be beneficial to the macroscopic NLO performance due to the less pronounced solid phase stacking compared to the flat IDCA based compounds. The presence of site isolating groups at both the acceptor and donor ends of the molecule in compound 13 resulted in a considerable NLO efficiency increase. Non-centrosymmetric crystals of CICA based N,N-dimethylaminobenzylidene 7b were obtained and showed a SHG response comparable to urea.

Optical propagation loss measurements in electro optical host-guest waveguides

Thin organic waveguiding layers are applied more and more frequently as optical components in novel optoelectronic devices. For development of such devices it is important to know the optical properties of the used waveguides. One of the most important parameters is optical propagation loss in the waveguide. In this paper we present optical propagation loss measurements in planar electro optical waveguides using travelling fiber method. Using this method attenuation coefficient α at 633 nm as a function of chromophore concentration for the first two guiding modes in the slab waveguide was determined.

Simple method for measuring bilayer system optical parameters

A simple method for measuring bilayer system refractive indexes and thicknesses in the low absorbing part of spectra is demonstrated. The method is based on application of Savitzky - Golay smoothing filters and interference fringe separation in the reflected or transmitted spectra of the bilayer system. The refractive indexes and thicknesses are extracted from the wavelengths corresponding to extreme points in the spectrum. Due to the fact that wavelength difference of extreme points in the analyzed spectrum is defined by the product of both, the layer thickness and refractive index, one must generate an appropriate initial guess of these parameters. For refractive index approximation two different methods have been used - point by point and Sellmeier dispersion relation. The final optimization procedure is based on a priori assumption that the thickness calculated from permutations of all extreme points in the spectrum should be the same. Thus the optimal penalty parameter for finding the solution is the standard deviation of calculated thicknesses. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of this simple method, results of thin organic film thicknesses and refractive indexes are presented.

All-organic electro-optic waveguide modulator comprising SU-8 and nonlinear optical polymer

In this paper we describe the principles of operation as well as the fabrication and testing steps of an all-organic waveguide modulator. The modulator comprises an SU-8 core and an electro-optic host-guest polymer cladding. The polymer properties are tuned in order to achieve single mode operation. We used direct-write laser lithography in two steps for the preparation of the devices. The electro-optic coefficient of the polymer is estimated from observing the modulation of the device operated in push-pull mode.

Determination of Kerr and two-photon absorption coefficients of ABI thin films

In this paper we report the results of studied nonlinear optical properties of DMABI-Ph6 in form of solutions with chloroform as solvent and guest-host thin films with poly(methyl methacrylate) as host material. We implemented the Zscan method for studies of Kerr and two-photon absorption of selected material. During experimental measurements we used 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser with 30 ps pulse duration and 10 Hz repetition rate. From acquired values of Kerr coefficients we calculated values for real part of third-order susceptibility, as well as second-order hyperpolarizability. Acquired data for DMABI-Ph6 were compared with data for other ABI derivatives studied previously to describe how different donor and acceptor groups influence third-order nonlinear optical properties.

Optical phase retrieval using four rotated versions of a single binary mask – simulation results

In signal processing one often faces the phase problem, i.e., when an image is formed information about the phase is lost so that only information about intensity is available. This is often an issue in astronomy, biology, crystallography, speckle imaging, diffractive imaging where the phase of the object must be known. While there have been many approaches how to find a solution to the phase problem, numerical algorithms recovering the phase from intensity measurements become more and more popular. One of such algorithms called PhaseLift has been recently proposed. In this study, we show that even 4 masks may be sufficient for reasonable recovery of the phase. The original wavefront and the recovered wavefront were visually indistinguishable and showed very high correlation. In addition, the four masks are essentially one and the same mask rotated around in steps of 90 degrees. By using just four rotated versions of a single mask, the PhaseLift could be easily implemented in real optical systems thus simplifying the wavefront sensing in astronomy, biology etc.

Determination of Kerr and two-photon absorption coefficients of indandione derivatives

We studied nonlinear optical properties of two different aminobenziliden-1,3-indandione derivatives – DDMABI and DMABI-OH by employing the Z-scan method. Through this we described how different donor and acceptor groups influence third-order nonlinear optical properties such as Kerr effect and two-photon absorption. During experimental measurements we used 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser with 30 ps pulse duration and 10 Hz repetition rate. From acquired values of Kerr and two-photon absorption coefficients we calculated values for real and imaginary parts of third-order susceptibility, as well as second-order hyperpolarizability. Quantum chemical calculations were carried out for secondorder hyperpolarizability to study how well calculations correlate with experimental values. Acquired data for DDMABI and DMABI-OH were compared with data for other ABI derivatives studied previously.

Poling dynamics of an EO active material using parallel-plate electrodes

We describe the sample preparation and experimental setup for second harmonic generation measurement of electro-optical (EO) chromophore/polymer system at the time of contact-poling. Different types of spacers for avoiding electric breakdown due to avalanche multiplication are compared. Electric field threshold values for second harmonic generation are observed in all samples.

Determination of refractive index of submicron-thick films using resonance shift in a four-layer slab waveguide

The measurement of refractive index of very thin films at the order of ten to hundred nanometers is cumbersome and usually requires employing sophisticated techniques such as the spectral ellipsometry. In this paper we describe a simple contact method for measuring the refractive index of thin films. Here we have used the prism-coupling technique for characterizing samples prepared as four-layer slab waveguides. The waveguide resonance condition can be calculated by solving simple analytic transcendental equations for the slab waveguide. Then the captured mode position as a function of cladding thickness is used for probing the refractive index of cladding layer. We used indium-tin-oxide layer on glass as the substrate and polysulfone with known refractive index as the material for testing the method. In the paper we provide the theoretical background of the method, demonstrate the experimental results obtained during the implementation of the technique as well as discuss its main strengths and flaws.

Dielectric breakdown of fast switching LCD shutters

Fast liquid crystal optical shutters due to fast switching, vibrationless control and optical properties have found various applications: substitutes for mechanical shutters, 3D active shutter glasses, 3D volumetric displays and more. Switching speed depends not only on properties of liquid crystal, but also on applied electric field intensity. Applied field in the shutters can exceed >10 V/micron which may lead to dielectric breakdown. Therefore, a dielectric thin film is needed between transparent conductive electrodes in order to reduce breakdown probability. In this work we have compared electrical and optical properties of liquid crystal displays with dielectric thin films with thicknesses up to few hundred nanometers coated by flexo printing method and magnetron sputtering. Dielectric breakdown values show flexographic thin films to have higher resistance to dielectric breakdown, although sputtered coatings have better optical properties, such as higher transmission and no coloration.