Some new design strategies for second-order nonlinear optical polymers and dendrimers

Second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials have played a very important role in laser technology since the invention of the laser. The materials have been developed from inorganic crystals to organic molecules and polymers. The search for new second-order NLO materials with better performance has continuously been in the frontier of materials science and optical engineering. This article reviews some new design strategies for second-order NLO polymers, including dendronized polymers, dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers with the new concept of the “suitable isolation group”.