A Reversible Change in the Nonlinear Optical Properties of Polymer Electret Films Based on Methacrylic Copolymers

Abstract

Abstract: A reversible change is discovered in the quadratic optical nonlinearity of a methacrylic polymer with bi-chromophore fragments in the side chain. It is shown that long-term nonresonant irradiation with femtosecond pulses reduces the intensity of the generated second harmonic with periods of decay in the range of units to tens of minutes. After irradiation is ceased, the optical properties of the samples return to their original values within a few minutes.