This award is made in the Office of Special Projects in the the Chemistry Division in support of the research of Dr. Catherine Page at the University of Oregon. The research deals with the design, synthesis and characterization of self-assembled inorganic/organic multilayer thin films. Two specific areas will be investigated: (1) the incorporation of nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophores into metal bisphosphonate multilayers, both as new NLO films, and as a diagnostic tool for assessing orientational order and kinetics of monolayer formation; and, (2) the synthesis of new hybrid multilayer films based on transition metal diisocyanide coordination complexes. In the latter system, the role of solvent, transition metal and diisocyanide structure will be explored. Synthesis and dynamics of metal diisocyanide multilayers and hybrid multilayers of metal diisocyanide and metal bisphosphonates will be investigated. Multilayers will be characterized by FTIR, grazing angle x-ray diffraction, ellipsometry and XPS. Additionally, the orientational order of the layers and the kinetics of monolayer formation will be determined by second harmonic generation measurements. This research has elements of both fundamental importance and commercial relevance. Incorporation of nonlinear optical chromophores into self-assembled films provide a means of addressing fundamental issues of film orientation and growth. Additionally, multilayer structures with nonlinear optical properties offer the prospect of applications in electrooptic conversion, optical switching and frequency doubling devices.
