Preparation of stable second-order nonlinear optical films by sol-gel technique.

A stable nonlinear optical (NLO) film containing 'T' type alkoxysilane dye was prepared by sol-gel technology. This crosslinked 'T' type alkoxysilane dye was synthesized and fully characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis spectra, and H-NMR. Followed by hydrolysis and copolymerization processes of the alkoxysilane with γ-glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane (KH560) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), high quality inorganic-organic hybrid second-order NLO films were obtained by spin coating. The 'T' type structure of the alkoxysilane was found to be effective for improving the temporal stability of the optical nonlinearity due to the reduction in the relaxation of the chromophore in the film materials. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]