Materials for Nonlinear Optics: Chemical Perspectives. ACS Symposium Series No.455. Edited byS.R. Marder, J.E.Sohn and G.D. Stucky. ISBN 0-8412-1939-7. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1991. US $ 129.95.

The recent developments in materials chemistry for nonlinear optical (NLO) applications is summerized in this volume. The main perspective is to the synthesis of new materials with improved properties.The wide range of prop- erties, which have to be optimized for NLO, are discussed in a comprehensive introduction. The relations between the molecular structure and materials properties on one side and the physics and engineering of NLO-devices for infor- mation processing, telecommunication, optical frequency conversion and integrated optics on the other side are con- sidered. The presentation from leading scientists in this field, including the Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Lehn, given at this symposium in 1991 are summerized from the

chemical point of view. The advantages and disadi mtages of different NLO-materials for respective applications are reflected by six materials sections in this book: - preparation and characterization of poled polymers, - organic and anorganic crystals - novel approaches to orientation of the molecular units, - composite materials, - molecular and supramolecular metal-based systems, - delocalized third-order nonlinear optical materials. A large spectrum of potential materials for NLO applica- tions are offered and the opportunities mentioned demand a stronger participation in the new interdisciplinary field of materials chemistry. In this sense this book gives an impact to find a new generation of materials, which satisfy the need for the development of devices beyond the VLSI (very large scale integration).

M . Pinnow

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112 New Books Acta Polymer., 44, 110-112 (1993)