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Microgravity Processing and Photonic Applications of Organic and Polymeric MaterialsIn recent years, a great deal of interest has been directed toward the use of organic materials in the development of high-efficiency optoelectronic and photonic devices. There is a myriad of possibilities among organic which allow flexibility in the design of unique structures with a variety of functional groups. The use of nonlinear optical (NLO) organic materials such as thin-film waveguides allows full exploitation of their desirable qualities by permitting long interaction lengths and large susceptibilities allowing modest power input. There are several methods in use to prepare thin films, such as Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) and self-assembly techniques, vapor deposition, growth from sheared solution or melt, and melt growth between glass plates. Organics have many features that make Abstract: them desirable for use in optical devices such as high second- and third-order nonlinearities, flexibility of molecular design, and damage resistance to optical radiation. However, their use in devices has been hindered by processing difficulties for crystals and thin films. In this chapter, we discuss photonic and optoelectronic applications of a few organic materials and the potential role of microgravity on processing these materials. It is of interest to note how materials with second- and third-order nonlinear optical behavior may be improved in a diffusion-limited environment and ways in which convection may be detrimental to these materials. We focus our discussion on third-order materials for all-optical switching, and second-order materials for all-optical switching, and second-order materials for frequency conversion and electrooptics.
Document ID
20000025440
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Frazier, Donald 0
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Penn, Benjamin G.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Smith, David
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Witherow, William K.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Paley, M. S.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Abdeldayem, Hossin A.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 26, 1998
Subject Category
Space Processing
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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