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Updated: Jan 8, 2026

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Strong Second Harmonic Generation and Nonlinear Optical Activity in Chiral Supramolecular Polymers
Carlos H D Dos Santos1, Marcelo G Vivas2, Filipe A Couto1
1Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos 13566-590, SP, Brazil.
Abstract:
The growing demand for advanced optical materials has made nonlinear photonics a key area of research, particularly for developing new technologies. Therefore, this study focuses on chiral supramolecular structures, which are highly promising due to their exceptional second-order optical susceptibility (χ(2)) values. In particular, we investigated the origin and optical activity of second harmonic generation (SHG) in chiral polybinaphthalenes using femtosecond laser pulses. Our outcomes reveal a high χ(2) value, up to 7 pm/V, influenced by the attached chromophores at the polymer backbone. Structural analysis showed rodlike/helical structures that promote directional preference for the SHG signal. Simulations unveil that the SHG process is connected to the quasi-phase matching process, and the material's robust chiral structure leads to high optical activity observed via lock-in amplifier detection. In conclusion, the conjunction of high SHG values and optical activity of these supramolecular structures makes them excellent candidates for chiral photonics applications.
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