ABSTRACT
Research activity in nonlinear optical materials (NLO) materials has accelerated and numerous organic crystals and polymers with unusually large optical nonlinearities have been discovered. These materials are attractive because organic molecules can be tailored to optimize optical nonlinearities. The first observation of second harmonic generation in single crystal quartz in 1961 prompted an intense search for new and efficient NLO. This chapter contains data on those materials for which detailed information is available on properties such as lattice parameters, refractive index dispersion, temperature dependence of refractive index, Sellmeier coefficients, dispersion of NLO coefficients, optical absorption/transmission, phase matching temperature, phase matching angle, and other relevant properties. It includes a list of NLO materials for which only limited data on NLO coefficients and refractive indices at the fundamental and harmonic wavelengths are available.
