Photochemical stability of nonlinear optical chromophores in polymeric and crystalline materials

We compare the photochemical stability of the nonlinear optical chromophore configurationally locked polyene 2-{3-[2-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)vinyl]-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-2-enylidene} malononitrile (DAT2) embedded in a polymeric matrix and in a single-crystalline configuration. The results show that, under resonant light excitations, the polymeric compound degrades through an indirect process, while the DAT2 crystal follows a slow direct process. We show that chromophores in a crystalline environment exhibit three orders of magnitude better photostability as compared to guest-host polymer composites.