This treatise is a compendium of papers based on invited talks presented at the American Chemical Society Symposium on Electroactive Polymers which covered nonlinear optical polymers and conducting polymers, the common denominator being the correlated pi-electron structures. The improved understanding of the consequences of pi-electron delocalization upon nonlinear optical properties and charge carrier dynamics has laid the foundation for the rapid development and application of the electroresponse of conjugated polymers. As a result, the area of electroactive and nonlinear optical polymers is emerging as a frontier of sCience and technology. It is a multidisciplinary field that is bringing together scientists and engineers of varied background to interface their expertise. The recent explosion of interest in this area stems from the prospect of utilizing nonlinear optical effects for optical switching and logic operations in optical computing, optical signal processing, optical sensing and optical fiber communications. Polymers and organic are rapidly becoming one of the major material classes for nonlinear optical applications along with multiple quantum wells, ferroelectrics and other oxides, and direct band-gap semiconductors. The reasons for this lie in the unique molecular structures of polymers and organics and the ability to molecularly engineer the architecture of these structures through chemical synthesis.

Photonics, the counterpart of electronics, involves the usage of Photons instead of electrons to process information and perform various switching operations. Photonics is projected to be the technology of the future because of the gain in speed, processing and interconnectivity of network. Nonlinear optical processes will play the key role in photonics Where they can be used for frequency conversion, optical switching and modulation. Organic molecules and polymers have emerged as a new class of highly promising nonlinear optical materials Which has captured the attention of scientists world wide. The organic systems offer the advantage of large nonresonant nonlinearities derived from the 1T electrons contribution, femtosecond response time and the flexibility to modify their molecular structures. In addition, organic polymers can easily be fabricated in various device structures compatible with the fiber-optics communication system. The area of nonlinear optics of organic molecules and polymers offers exciting opportunities for both fundamental research and technologic development. It is truly an interdisciplinary area. This proceeding is the outcome of the first NATO Advanced Research WOrkshop in this highly important area. The objective of the workshop was to provide a forum for scientists of varying background from both universities and industries to come together and interface their expertize. The scope of the workshop was multidisciplinary with active participations from Chemists, physicists, engineers and materials scientists from many countries.

Synthesis and processing of organic second-order nonlinear optical materials for fabrication of electro-optic modulators are discussed. Topics dealt with in order include (1) synthesis for chromophores characterized by large hyperpolarizability and good thermal stability, (2) covalent coupling of nonlinear optical chromophores to polymer lattices, (3) lattice hardening reactions which permit locking-in of electric field poling-induced macroscopic noncentrosymmetric order, (4) fabrication of buried channel nonlinear optical waveguides by photochemical and reactive ion etching techniques, (5) coupling of nonlinear optical waveguides to fiber optic transmission lines and drive electronics, (6) prototype device fabrication and evaluation. Various device configurations are reviewed and recent advances in applications are discussed. Comparison is made between the performance of organic and inorganic materials for electro-optic modulation applications.

The future of information technology requires ultra high speed processing and large data storage capacity. Since the electronics technology using semi conduc tors and inorganic materials is about to reach its limits, much current research is focused on utilizing much faster photons than electrons, namely photonics. To achieve any significant effect on the actual use of the science of photonics, devel opments of more efficient photonics materials, better optical property evaluations, manufacture of devices for system applications, etc. are the subjects which need to be explored. In particular, the development of photonics materials stands in the forefront of research as this constitutes the most pertinent factor with regard to the development of ultra high speed and large capacity information processing. In this respect, there has been continuous research on photo responsive materials through molecular structure design and architecture and the results so far are very promising as functions and performances are beginning to realize their high expectations. The two special volumes "Polymers for Photonics Applications" give authorita tive and critical reviews on up to date activities in various fields of photonic poly mers including their promising applications. Seven articles have been contributed by internationally recognized and they deal with, polymers for second and third order nonlinear optics, quadratic parametric interactions in polymer waveguides, electroluminescent polymers as light sources, photoreflective polymers for holo graphic information storage, and highly efficient two photon absorbing organics and polymers.