Tom Boatwright with Ken Singer

Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Multilayer Polymer Films – Photonic Crystals in a Polymer Laser

Recent technological developments have facilitated the creation of nanometer-scale multilayered polymer films via extrusion of polymer sheets. While groups have demonstrated that multilayered films possess properties of 1-dimensional photonic crystals, little work has been done with films produced through these new methods. Linear and nonlinear optical properties of such multilayered films created with these novel procedures will be investigated. In addition, the creation of 2-dimensional photonic crystals by writing a holographic grating in photosensitive polymers will be investigated.