Novel optical composites: second‐order nonlinear optical and polymeric photorefractive materials for optical information storage and processing applications

Recent progress in sol-gel-processed second-order nonlinear optical and photorefractive materials for photonics applications is de- scribed. A number of composites have been prepared in an effort to obtain superior and cost-effective replacements for inorganic crystals. These composites are described followed by a series of measurements indicating the usefulness of these composites in the area of second- order nonlinear optical applications and photorefractive optical informa- tion storage and processing.