Design and synthesis of ferroelectric liquid crystals for nonlinear optics

The current method of manipulating signal on fiber optic cable involves translating the optical signal into an electrical one and back after manipulation. One can imagine it would be simpler and less consumptive of power to manipulate the optical signal directly. This idea is one driving force behind the current interest in photonic switching devices. Second order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials are required for such important fiber optic processes as frequency mixing, optical rectification, parametric amplification and the Pockel's effect. However, the bulk symmetry requirements for χ(2) (bulk second order polarizability) makes synthesis of such materials difficult.;Ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) combine both the correct polar symmetry for nonlinear optics and ease of processibility. The ability to rationally design materials using the Boulder model, which treats the liquid crystal phase as a binding site for each molecule, has led to many promising compounds, though their properties are still insufficient. In order to improve, one must incorporate chromophores with larger second order polarizabilities (β). The synthesis and design of such materials has been carried out.