Polymer optical fibres with controlled molecular orientation for photonic applications

Polymer optical fibres combine two important factors: good confinement of light characteristic for silica optical fibres and the potential to tailor their optical properties by modifying the material properties characteristic for polymers. The project will explore ways of modifying of the polymer optical fibres on macro, micro and molecular scale to obtain enhanced nonlinear optical response, especially through manipulation of spatial orientation of molecules. It will develop methods for the production of nonlinear optical fibres with built-in electrooptic effect, second harmonic generation as well as multiphoton phenomena which will find applications in photonic technologies, imaging, optical sensing and biophotonics.