Theory-Inspired Nano-Engineering of Structure, Lattice Dimensionality, and Viscoelasticity of New Polymer and Dendrimer Materials

Abstract

Moieties that promote intermolecular cooperativity are attached as pendants to organic electro-optic chromophores effecting a reduction in lattice dimensionality and influencing the poling-induced order of chromophores. Theory relates centric and acentric order parameters to lattice dimensionality. Experimentally, centric order parameters are defined by VAPRAS and VASE, while the acentric order parameters are extracted from ATR. Molecular cooperativity also influences viscoelastic properties. SM-FM demonstrates the existence of a distinct phase of matter of reduced dimensionality. IFA permits definition of the entropy change associated with the reduced dimensionality. The correlation of IFA and DRS data permits definition of the cooperativity length scale.

Keywords:

• Lattice dimensionality
• nanoviscoelasticity
• order parameters
• organic electro-optic materials

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial support for this research from the National Science Foundation (DMR00905686) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-09-1-0589). The authors also wish to thank members of Robinson, Overney, Jen, Reid, and Dalton research groups at the University of Washington for many helpful discussions and with assistance with calculations and measurements.