In-situ profiling of dipole polarization distributions in poled nonlinear optical polymers with electrothermal and optical techniques Original Research Article

Poling is an essential process step in the preparation of dipolar chromophore-based second-order nonlinear optical polymers. In single- and multilayer film structures, poling often yields a spatially nonuniform orientation of the chromophores across the film thickness. An electrothermal technique, based on the measurement of electrical transients after pulsed thermal excitation, as well as an optical second-harmonic generation technique have been developed for the depth profiling of the dipole polarization with a high spatial resolution around 100 nm.