9408701 Marder This renewal award is made in the Advanced Materials and Processing Program in support of the research of Dr. Seth Marder and Dr. Joseph Perry. Support is provided by the Divisions of Chemistry and Materials Research. The goals of the research are to develop an understanding of the factors affecting both second- and third-order nonlinearities, assess the fundamental limits for the hyperpolarizability coefficients that can be achieved with organic molecules and polymers, and to develop synthetic strategies that will lead to molecules where nonlinear response is optimized. An integrated program of synthesis, structural, linear and nonlinear optical characterization, and theoretical studies will be carried out. Materials with nonlinear optical properties are key to optical processing and storage of data and images. This research will result in molecules and optical materials with greatly enhanced nonlinear optical properties compared to those currently available.
