Organic Materials for Photonics: Science and Technology (European Materials Research Society Monographs)

Polyconjugated organic materials are revealing amorphous electrical and non-linear optical properties; this fact is opening up a whole new field of materials science aimed at the development of new technologies. For many years, inorganic materials were studied mostly for non-linear optical properties. When organic molecules began to show larger and faster responses, both physical chemists and organic chemists became involved in understanding the physical phenomena at a molecular level, with the hope of synthesizing new and better molecular systems. The non-linear optical responses of this class of organic materials are presently attracting considerable attention as an active field of research both in academic and industrial laboratories. Due to the variety of problems and techniques involved, students and beginners with different backgrounds who approach polyconjugated materials do not find it an easy field to enter. This book introduces the necessary concepts and relevant references which will help the reader to grasp the fundamental concepts of polyconjugated organic materials and perceive the relations between them.