Synthesis of novel polyimide with highly enhanced thermal stability of second harmonic generation for electro-optic applications

Abstract

2,3-Bis-(3,4-dicarboxyphenylcarboxyethoxy)-1-(2,2-dicyanovinyl)benzene dianhydride (4) was prepared and reacted with 1,4-phenylenediamine to yield novel Y-type polyimide 5 containing 2,3-dioxybenzylidenemalononitrile group as NLO-chromophores, which constitute parts of the polymer backbones. The resulting polyimide 5 was soluble in polar solvents such as acetone and N,N-dimethylformamide. Polymer 5 showed a thermal stability up to 330 °C in thermogravimetric analysis thermogram with T _g value obtained from differential scanning calorimetry thermogram near 190 °C. The second harmonic generation (SHG) coefficient (d ₃₃) of poled polymer films at the 1064 nm fundamental wavelength was around 3.15×10^-9 esu. The dipole alignment exhibited a thermal stability even at 20 °C higher than the glass-transition temperature, and there was no SHG decay below 210 °C because of the partial main chain character of polymer structure, which was acceptable for nonlinear optical device applications.