Copper wire is the traditional material to transmit telecommunication information, but the theoretical speed and volume limits, at which electrons can travel through copper wire, are near capacity and cannot accommodate the projected global demands. Compelling solutions using fiber optic cables are on the horizon as, compared to Cu, they can handle 6000x the bandwidth, are of lower cost, lighter weight, and maintain lower temps. In parallel, the global market for optical modulators (necessary fiber optic component) is set to exceed $22B by 2025. This increase coincides with exponentially increasing telecom demands from healthcare, military, and industries. A bottleneck for replacing Cu wire with fiber optic cables is the limited availability of nonlinear optic (NLO) materials that are necessary for optical modulation. Electro optic polymers (EOPs) often include asymmetric chromophores combined with a glassy, amorphous polymer. EOPs can have exceptionally high initial EO responses, but can be short-lived because the anisotropic chromophore orientation becomes lost over time, the chromophores are often unstable, and EO responses can be thwarted by limited poling efficiency. We are addressing limitations of temporal stability, chromophore availability, and poling efficiency of EOPs. In our approach we are expanding the library of our newly discovered family of stable chromophores. We are evaluating the intermolecular compatibility between the chromophore, the selected polymer, and the solvating medium in correlation to EO temporal stability and poling efficiency achieved by our custom-built poling station. Preliminary results suggest a significant influence on chromophore aggregation, observed optical properties, and film quality with respect to solvent choice. During this meeting we will focus on detailed dissemination of these findings, the synthetic methods of our newly developed class of asymmetric chromophores, and their compatibility with glassy, amorphous polymers.

Chromophore compatibility in electro optic polymers

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.