All-optical polymeric interferometeric wavelength converter comprising an excited state intramolecular proton transfer dye

An all optical wavelength converter using a polymeric Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZG) and comprising of an excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) dye was designed and demonstrated. The MZI wavelength converter was composed of the MQ dye-doped polymeric waveguide and a thick light blocking metal film. Phase modulation of the continuous-wave probe light propagation in the irradiated arm of the MZI takes place due to the refractive index change of the ESIPT. It was suggested that the structure allows phase modulation of the continuous wave light propagating in the MZI using the pulse repetition of the single beam, resulting in wavelength conversion from the single beam to the guided light of the MZI.