Synthesis and characterization of conjugated polycyanamide with ultrafast optical Kerr effect

The conjugated polycyanamide (PCN) was successfully prepared by radio frequency glow discharge techniques. The structure of PCN was characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), UV–Visible absorption spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which revealed that extensive conjugation was formed in the polymer PCN. The subpicosecond time-resolved optical Kerr effect (OKE) was used to measure the third-order optical nonlinearity of PCN samples. For the first time, an ultrafast response and nonresonant optical Kerr effect of plasma polymer PCN was observed.