1 research outputs found
Insights into Magneto-Optics of Helical Conjugated Polymers
Materials with magneto-optic (MO)
properties have enabled critical
fiber-optic applications and highly sensitive magnetic field sensors.
While traditional MO materials are inorganic in nature, new generations
of MO materials based on organic semiconducting polymers could allow
increased versatility for device architectures, manufacturing options,
and flexible mechanics. However, the origin of MO activity in semiconducting
polymers is far from understood. In this paper, we report high MO
activity observed in a chiral helical poly-3-(alkylsulfone)Âthiophene
(<b>P3AST</b>), which confirms a new design for the creation
of a giant Faraday effect with Verdet constants up to (7.63 ±
0.78) × 10<sup>4</sup> deg T<sup>–1</sup> m<sup>–1</sup> at 532 nm. We have determined that the sign of the Verdet constant
and its magnitude are related to the helicity of the polymer at the
measured wavelength. The Faraday rotation and the helical conformation
of <b>P3AST</b> are modulated by thermal annealing, which is
further supported by DFT calculations and MD simulations. Our results
demonstrate that helical polymers exhibit enhanced Verdet constants
and expand the previous design space for polythiophene MO materials
that was thought to be limited to highly regular lamellar structures.
The structure–property studies herein provide insights for
the design of next-generation MO materials based upon semiconducting
organic polymers