Enhancement of PMMA nonlinear optical properties by means of a quinoid molecule

In this paper we present the study of the linear and nonlinear optical properties of organic films based on mixing a polymeric matrix (PMMA) and a highly nonlinear organic material recently synthesised and characterised, namely (5,5?-Bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-oxo-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-ylidene)-5, 5?-dihydro-2,2?-bithiophene), with the prospective of reaching a good compromise between good processability and high nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of the solid solution. Linear optical characterisation is performed by means of variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry in the spectral range between 260 and 1700 nm. Third order NLO properties of the samples have been investigated by third harmonic generation at fundamental wavelength of 1500 nm. Different guest/host concentrations have been studied. Due to the high solubility of the guest into the polymeric matrix, we have been able to reach concentration up to 50% in weight, reaching an enhancement of the NLO properties of PMMA by three order of magnitudes. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.