Synthesis of nonlinear optical chromophore and the preparation of attenuated total reflectance modulator

A new nonlinear optical chromophore with strong electron‐withdrawing acceptor and rigid–flexible dendron was synthesized. An electro‐optic (EO) attenuated total reflectance modulator was prepared to measure the EO coefficient of the films. Modification of the tricyanopyrroline chromophore with rigid–flexible dendron group provided reduction of dipole–dipole interactions and improvement of its solubility. As the chromophore loading increased, there was a great improvement on the macroscopic EO response of the polymeric materials obtained by incorporating this chromophore as a guest in amorphous polycarbonate. The largest EO coefficient was 42 pm/V at 1310 nm. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.