Abstract: | A novel high glass‐transition temperature (272 °C) polyurea functionalized by a multiple charge‐transfer chromophore, 2‐{4‐[4,5‐bis(4‐nitrophenyl)imidazolyl]phenyl}‐4,5‐bis(4‐aminophenyl)imidazole, was synthesized. Simultaneous poling and polymerization and the in situ second‐harmonic generation (SHG) measurement technique was carried out to evaluate the thermal stability of the poling‐induced orientation. The nonlinear optical coefficient d33 of poled polyurea film was 24 pm/V at 1064 nm fundamental wavelength. The SHG signal of the poled polymer film was quite stable below 200 °C and still remained 80% of its initial value after heating at 250 °C. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 4297–4301, 2002 |