Abstract

Nonlinear optics has been attracting a lot of attention, but currently obtainable degree of non linearity is not sufficient for many of the applications. In order to establish large optical nonlinearity, it is necessary to use a material with a large optical nonlinearity in a waveguide which can confine light strongly to inclease optical power density. For this purpose the channel waveguide is the most suitable because of its high optical confinement as well as its compatibility with optical integrated circuits. Among various nonlinear optical materials, low-molecular-weight organic materials such as 2-methyl-4-nitroaniline(MNA) are of great interest owing to their very large optical nonlinearity. However, they have disadvantages of low mechanical strength and low processability, and therefore it is not easy to fabricate channel waveguides with them. A few methods to fabricate organic crystal channel waveguides have been reported^[1-3], but these methods have disadvantages such as difficulties in controlling the thickness or size of the core.

© 1992 Optical Society of America