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Project

Development of conjugated polymers for third-order nonlinear optical purposes

Photonics have experienced a gradual increase in interest over the last few years. The global photonics market is expected to reach a value of more than 900 billion USD in 2023. Within the photonics, an emerging field is all-optical switches. All-optical switches offer an advantage of inherent faster switching speeds because the optical signal does not to be converted into an electrical signal. These fast response times are merely found in materials with a high third-order optical nonlinearity. Promising third-order nonlinear optical materials are conjugated polymers (CPs), but the lack of a systematic screening, hampered a real breakthrough. The research in this project is based on a systematic screening of CPs with the aim to synthesize and design an optimal CP particularly suitable for all‑optical switching. Different structural effects are envisioned in a systematic way. Consecutively, the focus lies on governing the bandgap, the topology and the symmetry of the CPs. The third-order nonlinear optical response is measured with the third-harmonic scattering technique, which is a fast and sensitive screening technique that is recently developed and currently unique in the world. By combining the best structural effects at the end of the project, an optimal tailor-made CP is obtained that is suitable for application in all-optical switching.

Date:27 Aug 2018 →  28 Jul 2021
Keywords:Conjugated polymers, third-order nonlinear optics
Disciplines:Process engineering, Polymeric materials
Project type:PhD project