Synthesis and characterization of a second-order nonlinear optical organic/inorganic polyimide hybrid material

A second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) organic/inorganic hybrid polyimide was successfully prepared by sol-gel process, and was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM, DSC and TGA. The order parameter of the hybrid material after the polarization is 0.48 and it maintains 90% of the initial value after the treatment for 300 h at 1.50 degreesC. The SEM analysis shows that the surface of the hybrid thin film is very smooth, and cross-linking structure is observed in the cross section. The T-G of the polyimide /inorganic hybrid material(561 K) is higher than that of the corresponding pure polyimide (543 K). The sol-gel hybrid thin film also exhibits a good thermal stability, with 5% and 10% weight-loss temperatures at 691 and 758 K, respectively.