Abstract

The field of nonlinear optics plays a major role in the implementation and development of many photonic technologies useful in processing optical information at enhanced speeds. Materials with large optical nonlinearities and fast responses are crucial for the development of these technologies. Recently, silicon based polysilane and polygermane polymers have attracted great interest. As σ electron systems, these polymers are unique in that the σ electron-delocalization along the backbone chromophore renders the polymers transparent through the visible to the infrared in contrast to the π-conjugated polymers which normally absorb strongly in the visible. In this letter we wish to report the first measurements of the third-order nonlinearity of the tin based polymer polydibutylstannane. Due to the large atomic size of tin, the electron polarizability is expected to be high, which allows for the possibility of a large χ³.

© 1996 Optical Society of America