Organic nonlinear optical materials: where we have been and where we are going

Nonlinear optical (NLO) materials can be useful for a variety of applications varying from modulation of optical signals facilitated by the electro-optic effect the effect whereby the refractive index of a material changes in response to an applied electric field - to microfabrication, sensing, imaging, and cancer therapy facilitated by multiphoton absorption, wherein molecules simultaneously absorb two or more photons of light. This short Focus article is a brief personal perspective of some of the key advances in second-order NLO materials and in multiphoton-absorbing materials, and of how and why these advances have led to renewed interest in organic NLO materials.