Abstract

Organic thin films have been actively studied since the early 1980s for photonic applications, due to their large, ultrafast nonlinear optical and electro-optic coefficients, as well as their stability and their ability to be molecularly engineered. Many of the most interesting applications depend on charge transport of the delocalized π electrons in the medium, and hence are influenced by the electronic mobility and the presence of optically active traps [1]. The incorporation of metal ions into the organic compounds enhances their optical nonlinearities. Photoconductivity is also directly related to the mobility of photo-excited charge carriers, their lifetimes, and the recombination mechanisms, and has applications such as in optoelectronic switching and optical detection [2].

© 1997 Optical Society of America