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Highly Efficient Diels–Alder Crosslinkable Electro‐Optic Dendrimers for Electric‐Field Sensors
Author(s) -
Shi Z.,
Hau S.,
Luo J.,
Kim T.D.,
Tucker N. M.,
Ka J.W.,
Sun H.,
Pyajt A.,
Dalton L.,
Chen A.,
Jen A. K.Y.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.200600778
Subject(s) - materials science , dendrimer , chromophore , electric field , resonator , thermal stability , optoelectronics , absorption (acoustics) , photochemistry , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer chemistry , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
Abstract One of the most challenging tasks encountered in developing highly efficient electro‐optic (EO) devices is to find a material system that possesses all desirable properties such as large EO coefficients, good thermal and mechanical stability, and low optical loss. In order to meet this stringent requirement, we have developed a series of crosslinkable EO dendrimers using the standardized AJL8 ‐type chromophore as the center core and the furyl‐ and anthryl‐containing dendrons as the periphery. Upon adding a trismaleimide ( TMI ) dienophile, these dendrimers could be in‐situ crosslinked via the Diels–Alder cycloaddition and efficiently poled under a high electric field. Through this dynamic process, the spatially voided and π‐electron‐rich surrounding of the chromophore core changes into a dense and more aliphatic network, with the dipolar chromophore embedded and aligned inside. The resultant materials exhibit large EO coefficients (63–99 pm V –1 at 1.31 μm), excellent temporal stability (the original r 33 values remain unchanged at 100 °C for more than 500 h), and blue‐shifted near‐IR absorption. With these combined desirable properties, a poled EOD2/TMI film could be processed through multiple lithographic and etching steps to fabricate a racetrack‐shaped micro‐ring resonator. By coupling this ring resonator with a side‐polished optical fiber, a novel broadband electric‐field sensor with high sensitivity of 100 mV m –1 at 550 MHz was successfully demonstrated.