title: Photochemical stability of nonlinear optical chromophores in polymeric and crystalline materials.
abstract: We compare the photochemical stability of the nonlinear optical chromophore configurationally locked polyene 2-{3-[2-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)vinyl]-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-2-enylidene} malononitrile (DAT2) embedded in a polymeric matrix and in a single-crystalline configuration. The results show that, under resonant light excitations, the polymeric compound degrades through an indirect process, while the DAT2 crystal follows a slow direct process. We show that chromophores in a crystalline environment exhibit three orders of magnitude better photostability as compared to guest-host polymer composites.
authors: Nonlinear Optics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland. nlo@phys.ethz.ch
authors: Daniele
authors: D
authors: Rezzonico
authors: Seong-Ji
authors: SJ
authors: Kwon
authors: Harry
authors: H
authors: Figi
authors: O-Pil
authors: OP
authors: Kwon
authors: Mojca
authors: M
authors: Jazbinsek
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Günter