Nonlinear Spectroscopy In Substituted Polysilanes

Polysilane polymers consist of a long catenated silicon backbone with two sidegroups attached to each Si atom in the backbone chain. Delocalization of electrons along the a-bonded backbone results in very large oscillator strengths for UV transitions. Excitation by UV photons decays either by UV fluorescence or scission of the polymer backbone, making these materials useful as deep UV photoresists for microlithography. The large oscillator strengths also give rise to large optical nonlinear susceptibilities, and the ease of forming patterned waveguides by conventional spin coating and UV lithographic techniques make these materials interesting candidates for applications in nonlinear integrated optics.