Photodegradation of polymeric electro-optic materials at telecommunication C-band wavelengths

The photodegrdn. of non-linear optical chromophores in electro-optic polymers is detd. using excitation at 1.55 µm, the C-band employed in telecommunications. Photostability figures of merit are detd. that allow for calcn. of anticipated device lifetimes. The dependence of the figure of merit on mol. architecture, presence of well-known oxygen quenchers, and variations of the polymeric host are detd. Finally, the chromophore photobleaching kinetics detd. here demonstrate that longer data acquisition times than previously reported in the literature are required to fully capture the photodecompn. kinetics.