Second-harmonic-generation measurements of the elastic constant of a molecule in a polymer matrix

Abstract

A method for using electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation to determine microscopic elastic constants of dye-doped polymer systems is presented. This method allows for a direct measurement of the interaction between an optically nonlinear dye molecule and a surrounding optically linear host material. The bulk elastic constant determined by extrapolating the microscopic values is found to be ten times smaller than that determined through the use of a standard mechanical technique, suggesting that the physical interaction of the dye and the host is weak.