Problem to Be Solved: to provide a chromophore having a far superior nonlinear optical activity to conventional chromophores and to provide a nonlinear optical element comprising said chromophore.

Solution: a chromophore comprising a donor structure D, a -conjugated bridge structure B, and an acceptor structure A, the donor structure D comprising an aryl group substituted with a substituted oxy group; and a nonlinear optical element comprising said chromophore.

An electrochromic composition is provided. The electrochromic composition includes 0.510 parts by weight of a first oxidizable polymer, 0.510 parts by weight of a reducible organic compound, 0.520 parts by weight of an electrolyte, and 6098.5 parts by weight of a solvent. The first oxidizable polymer is a polymer of 1 molar part of diamine and 0.120 molar parts of dicarboxylic acid, diacyl chloride, or dianhydride, a mixture of the aforementioned polymers, or a copolymer of the aforementioned polymers. An electrochromic element including the aforementioned electrochromic composition is also provided.

Problem to Be Solved: to provide a chromophore having a far superior nonlinear optical activity to conventional chromophores and to provide a nonlinear optical element comprising said chromophore. Solution: a chromophore comprising a donor structure D, a -conjugated bridge structure B, and an acceptor structure A, the donor structure D comprising an aryl group substituted with a substituted oxy group; and a nonlinear optical element comprising said chromophore.

The invention provides a composite polymer film material based on a tungsten/copper/sulfur cluster compound, a preparation method and use thereof. The cluster compound has a chemical formula of: [RWS.sub.3Cu.sub.2(L.sup.a)].sub.n(M).sub.n, wherein R is tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)hydroborate, tris(pyrazolyl)hydroborate, or pentamethylcyclopentadienyl; L.sup.a has a structural formula of:

##STR00001## when M is perrhenate, n is 4; and when M is triflate, n is 6. The synthesis process of the cluster compound is simple and controllable. A tetrahedral and an octahedral tungsten/copper/sulfur cluster compound that are good third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) active species are selectively synthesized by using different cuprous salts. Composite polymer films of various layers are prepared by spin coating. Such films, as flexible, portable and easy-to-process solid materials, are applicable to third-order NLO devices. With increasing layers in the film, the third-order NLO response is gradually enhanced, and is 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than a solution containing the cluster compound.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a method for selective surface functionalization using a single-photon source. The method for selective functionalization using a single-photon source includes: (a) adding a single-photon source to a solution containing a photosensitizer and a monomer; and (b) emitting a single photon from the single-photon source. One aspect of the present disclosure is a selectively functionalized single-photon source prepared by the method.

Hydrogels that degrade under appropriate conditions of pH and temperature by virtue of crosslinking compounds that cleave through an elimination reaction are described. The hydrogels may be used for delivery of various agents, such as pharmaceuticals.

A method of poling an organic polymeric electro-optic material. The method includes doping the organic polymeric electro-optic material with nanoparticles. The method also includes heating the organic polymeric electro-optic material to a poling temperature. The method also includes poling the organic polymeric electro-optic material by applying an electric field across the organic polymeric electro-optic material.

An integrated circuit is configured for optical communication via an optical polymer stack located on top of the integrated circuit. The optical polymer stack may include one or more electro-optic polymer devices including an electro-optic polymer. The electro-optic polymer may include a host polymer and a second order nonlinear chromomophore, the host polymer and the chromophore both including aryl groups configured to interact with one another to provide enhanced thermal and/or temporal stability.

Hydrogels that degrade under appropriate conditions of pH and temperature by virtue of crosslinking compounds that cleave through an elimination reaction are described. The hydrogels may be used for delivery of various agents, such as pharmaceuticals. This invention provides hydrogels that degrade to smaller, soluble components in a non-enzymatic process upon exposure to physiological conditions and to methods to prepare them. The hydrogels are prepared from crosslinking agents that undergo elimination reactions under physiological conditions, thus cleaving the crosslinking agent from the backbone of the hydrogel. The invention also relates to the crosslinking agents themselves and intermediates in forming the hydro gels of the invention. The biodegradable hydro gels prepared according to the methods of the invention may be of use in diverse fields, including biomedical engineering, absorbent materials, and as carriers for drug delivery.

The present disclosure is directed to an optically active medium comprising dye aggregates and optionally a nucleotide oligomer or other nucleotide-based architecture, which may be used in in optical devices, in particular nonreciprocal devices (i.e., devices in which energy flows in one direction only), that can respond to differences in the polarization of light. An analysis is presented of the energy levels and the strengths of the optical transitions (changes in energy states) for a three-chromophore (dye) aggregate in which the chromophores are coupled with a J-like (i.e., end-to-end) stacking. Specific devices and methods of use are also disclosed herein.