The possibility of applying nonlinear optical organic materials to a high speed optical Kerr shutter was investigated. As switching materials, we chose doped PMMA, in which 2, 5-dichloroterephthal-bis [(p-diethylamino) aniline] (SBAC, Symmetrically substituted Benzylidene Aniline) dyes with large χ values were dispersed. The solubilities of the SBAC dyes were increased by controlling their polarity and bulkiness. As the dye concentration was increased, the χ of the doped PMMA increased to as large as 2.61013 esu. In addition, the extinction ratio of the doped PMMA, an important factor in Kerr shutter operation, was improved to 45 dB by investigating polymerization conditions and processes. As a result, optical Kerr shutter operation was observed in a doped polymer system for the first time, and the n2 value of doped PMMA with a χ value of 1.51013 esu was found to be 9.11015 cm2W1.

Organic nonlinear optical crystal 4-(p-dimethylaminostyryl)-1-methylpridinium tosylate (DAST) has a larger electro-optic (EO) coefficient than that of LiNbO3 crystal. Thus, DAST is a promising material for EO switching device. To use its large EO coefficient effectively, a waveguide structure is desirable. We have successfully fabricated two types of DAST crystal optical channel waveguide. One is a serially grafted waveguide combining a DAST and a transparent polymer by using the combination of standard photo-process and reactive ion-etching (RIE). Because DAST has large optical loss, parts of the waveguide should be composed of transparent polymer with a serially grafted structure with DAST. This structure reduced not only a propagation loss but also input/output losses. This serially graft waveguide fabrication technique for active organic crystal is available to many types of crystals with device function. The other is a channel waveguide made by a photo-bleaching technique. The cladding part of DAST waveguide was photo-bleached by irradiation of UV light. Under and over cladding layer were composed with UV-cured resin that did not dissolve the DAST crystal. This technique is very convenient for making DAST waveguide because of its simple procedure to make core-cladding structure of DAST compared to standard photo-process and RIE.