Abstract

Organic materials with high second order optical nonlinearities have attracted a lot of attention because of their potential for optical frequency conversion, THz generation, electro-optical and integrated optics applications. From these materials, DAST (4-N, A-dimethylamino-4′ -N′ -methyl-stilbazolium tosylate) is the one most investigated and also the one presenting the highest electro-optical and nonlinear optical figures of merit (χ₁₁₁⁽²⁾ = 420 ± 110pm/V at 1.9 μm) among the presently available bulk organic crystals. However, the theoretical limits for the macroscopic second-order nonlinearities in organic crystals are still far from being achieved. In addition, the growth of high quality nonlinear optical bulk or thin film organic crystals such as DAST remains a big challenge.

© 2007 IEEE