Liquid crystals from C3-symmetric mesogens for second-order non-linear optics

4 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables.
Octopolar tris[(phenyl)ethynyl]benzenes with high second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) activity form discotic liquid-crystalline mesophases whose properties depend on the length of the alkoxy chains. The molecules self-organize in a non-centrosymmetric fashion in the bulk phase which enables the construction of a simple, efficient, NLO device (see picture).