An exceptionally large linear electro-optic effect in the organic solid MNA

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Abstract
The dc linear electro‐optic effect and the x‐ray crystal structure of the organic molecular solid 2‐methyl‐4‐nitroaniline (MNA) have been studied. Of two crystal orientations measured, one polar orientation was found to have an exceptionally large figure of merit for electro‐optic phase retardation, comparable to that of LiNbO3. Comparison with second harmonic generation results demonstrates that the linear electro‐optic effect in MNA is primarily electronic in nature. The origin of the large macroscopic second order nonlinear optical susceptibility is traced to a single large component of the corresponding microscopic molecular susceptibility.