Optical anisotropy of polymeric films measured by waveguide propagation mode determination

Extruded thin films of a liquid-crystalline charge-conjugated rigid-rod polymer poly(p-phenylenebenzobisthiazole), PBT, and a semicrystalline thermoplastic polyethylene-terephthalate (Mylar) were fabricated and examined for film thickness, refractive index, and linear attenuation coefficient. Optical waveguide modes were successfully induced on the polymeric films using a prism coupler at λ = 633 and 1300 nm. Highly consistent thickness values were obtained for the polymeric films. In addition, the anisotropic nature of the optical properties was determined using TE and TM propagation modes. A refractive index as high as 2.3 was observed on PBT film. The refractive index data suggested that the PBT and Mylar films were optically anisotropic with refractive indices n? (out-of-plane) invariably smaller than n∥ (in-plane). Large anisotropy was also discovered in the linear attenuation coefficient α, with α_∥/α_? ≈ 50 for the Mylar films. Complementary polarimetric and spectroscopic interference measurements were also applied to investigate the optical anisotropy of the extruded polymeric films. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The influence of hydrogen chloride doping level on the complex refractive indices of anisotropic polyaniline film: Application of a new internal reflection waveguide coupling technique

Nondestructive three‐dimensional refractive‐index measurements are used for the determination of both crystallinity and orientation in thin polymer films. The prism waveguide coupler is particularly suitable for three‐dimensional isotropic and anisotropic thin‐film studies because of the quantitative character of the information obtained and the ease of data acquisition. It has been limited, however, to measuring the refractive index of optically transparent or weakly absorbing films. This study shows that a modified prism waveguide coupler can be used to determine the complex refractive index over a range from transparent to highly absorbing films from the internally reflected light intensity. Thus, both the refractive index, n, and the extinction coefficient, k, can be obtained. This method is used to determine the anisotropic three‐dimensional n and k values of spin‐coated emeraldine base and hydrogen chloride doped emeraldine salt polyaniline films. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2481–2490, 2001     

Phase Gratings in Photoreactive Polymers:A Way to Optically Pumped Organic Lasers

 Poly-(4-vinylbenzyl-thiocyanate) (PVBT) was investigated as a photoreactive polymer which changes its refractive index upon UV irradiation as is required for the production of phase gratings. After UV irradiation, the refractive index of PVBT films increased from n_D ²⁰ = 1.629 to n_D ²⁰ = 1.660 (Δn = +0.031). The change in the refractive index resulted mainly from the photoinduced isomerization of thiocyanate (SCN) to isothiocyanate (NCS) groups. It was possible to modify irradiated PVBT with 1-naphthylmethyl amine which lead to a further increase of the refractive index. Both the isomerization and the modification were followed with FTIR spectroscopy. This modification of the irradiated zones also yields an advantageous stabilization of phase gratings enscribed in PVBT. The investigations were carried out in the realm of novel organic distributed feedback (DFB) lasers.     

Control of Optical Properties of Thin Films Doped with Au Fine Particles by the Sol-Gel Method

We have developed tinted glasses with thin films doped with Au particles by the sol-gel method for automotive windows. Pink-colored glasses are mass-produced. The observed color is from absorption due to surface plasma resonance of Au particles. The squeeze-out of fine Au particles out of gel films was restrained by an organic additive. The index of the matrix was adjusted by the mixing ratio of TiO₂ (refractive index n = 2.20) to SiO₂ (n = 1.46). The absorption of Au particles is more intense with the higher index of the matrix, and its peak varies from 530 nm for n = 1.46 to 630 nm for n = 2.20, which yields a transmission color from pink to blue. The combination of the color of the glass substrate and the absorption by the Au particles in the thin films with various indices yields a variety of tinted glasses such as pink, orange, blue, blue-green and gray.     

Phase Gratings in Photoreactive Polymers:A Way to Optically Pumped Organic Lasers

Summary.  Poly-(4-vinylbenzyl-thiocyanate) (PVBT) was investigated as a photoreactive polymer which changes its refractive index upon UV irradiation as is required for the production of phase gratings. After UV irradiation, the refractive index of PVBT films increased from n_D ²⁰ = 1.629 to n_D ²⁰ = 1.660 (Δn = +0.031). The change in the refractive index resulted mainly from the photoinduced isomerization of thiocyanate (SCN) to isothiocyanate (NCS) groups. It was possible to modify irradiated PVBT with 1-naphthylmethyl amine which lead to a further increase of the refractive index. Both the isomerization and the modification were followed with FTIR spectroscopy. This modification of the irradiated zones also yields an advantageous stabilization of phase gratings enscribed in PVBT. The investigations were carried out in the realm of novel organic distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. Received August 22, 2000. Accepted September 22, 2000     

Chain orientation and anisotropies in optical and dielectric properties in thin films of stiff polyimides

Thin films of poly(p-phenylene biphenyltetracarboximide) (BPDA-PDA), prepared by thermal imidization of the precursor poly(amic acid) on substrates, have been investigated by optical waveguide, ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS), infrared (IR), and dielectric spectroscopies. The polyimide films exhibit an extraordinarily large anisotropy in the refractive indices with the in-plane index n_∥ = 1.806 and the out-of-plane index n_⊥ = 1.589 at 1064 nm wavelength. No discernible effect of the film thickness on this optical anisotropy is found between films of ca. 2.1 and ca. 7.8 μm thickness. This large birefringence is attributed to the preferential orientation of the biphenyltetracarboximide moieties with their planes parallel to the film surface, coupled with the strong preference of BPDA-PDA chains to align along the film plane. The frequency dispersion of the in-plane refractive index n_∥ is consistent with the results calculated by the Lorentz–Lorenz equation from the UV-visible spectrum exhibiting several absorption bands in the 170–500 nm region. The contribution from the IR absorption in the range 7000–400 cm,^?1 computed by the Spitzer-Kleinmann dispersion relations from the measured spectra, adds ca. 0.046 to the in-plane refractive index n_∥. Tilt-angle–dependent polarized IR results indicate nearly the same increase for the out-of-plane index n_⊥. Application of the Maxwell relation then leads to the out-of-plane dielectric constant ε^⊥ ? 2.7 at 1.2 × 10¹³ Hz, as compared with the measured value of ca. 3.0 at 10⁶ Hz. Assuming this small difference to remain the same for the in-plane dielectric constants ε_∥, we obtain a very large anisotropy in the dielectric properties of these polyimide films with the estimated in-plane dielectric constant ε_∥ ? 3.4 at 1.2 × 10¹³ Hz, and ε_∥ ? 3.7 at 10⁶ Hz. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Control of Semiconductor Particle Size in Sol-Gel Thin Films

Thin silica and silica-titania films containing CdS and PbS quantum size particles were obtained by separate preparation of the matrix and the colloidal sols and successive mixing. Sulfide particles were obtained by reaction of metal acetates with thioacetamide and control of particle size was achieved by surface capping agents. Powders and thin films deposited on soda-lime slides were prepared and characterized by XRD. Absorption spectra were recorded on films. The nonlinear refractive index was measured by anm-line technique on a CdS-doped sample. The nonlinear effect was found to be reversible and an ₂ value of −3 10⁻⁹ cm²/kW was measured.     

Structural and Optical Properties of Sol-Gel Deposited Proton Conducting Ta2O5 Films

Proton conducting tantalum oxide films were deposited on ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) coated glass, fused silica and soda-lime glass substrates by spin coating using a sol-gel process. The coating solutions were prepared using Ta(OC₂H₅)₅ as a precursor. X-ray diffraction studies determined that the sol-gel films, heat treated at temperatures below 400°C, were amorphous. Films heat treated at higher temperatures were crystalline with the hexagonal δ-Ta₂O₅ structure. The solar transmission values (T _s ) of tantala films on glass generally range from 0.8–0.9, depending on thickness. The refractive index and the extinction coefficient were evaluated from transmittance characteristics in the UV-VIS-NIR regions. The refractive index values calculated at λ=550 nm increased fromn=1.78 to 1.97 with increasing heat treatment from 150 to 450°C. The films heat treated at different temperatures showed low absorption, with extinction coefficients of smaller thank=1×10⁻³ in the visible range. Impedance spectroscopic investigations performed on Ta₂O₅ films revealed that these films have a protonic conductivity of 3.2×10⁻⁴S/m. The films are suitable for proton conducting layers in electrochromic (EC) devices.     

Optical parameters of thin calixarene films and their response to benzene,toluene and chloroform adsorption

Ellipsometry and surface plasmon-polariton resonance were used to measure both the thickness, d, and refractive index, N, of tert-butylcalix[n]arene (n = 4, 6 and 8) films, as well as the effect of the adsorption of benzene, toluene and chloroform on these parameters. The refractive index values were found to lie in the range 1.56–1.58. Exposure to benzene (chloroform) vapour increased N by 0.01–0.02, while toluene adsorption led to calixarene film swelling (up to 10–12%). Warming the films in air at 160 °C restored the former values of both d and N. Some mechanisms of interaction between the adsorbate molecules and calixarene films are proposed.     

Copolymer composition-dependent light transmission of polymer/liquid crystals composite films

Electrooptic responses (voltage and angular-dependent transmittance) of polymer/liquid crystal composite films with H, V, and unpolarized lights have been studied based on a nematic liquid crystal (Ro-5921) and four types of homopolymers and copolymers from ethyl methacrylate and styrene with different compositions. In this way, the index ratio of the polymer (n_p) to the ordinary refractive index of liquid crystal (n_o)(n_p/n_o) has been varied systematically, and the effect of the index ratio on viewing angle, applied voltage, response times, and transient response have been investigated. With increasing styrene content in the copolymer, droplet size increased, threshold (V_th) and saturation (V_sat) voltage, and rise time decreased. With n_p ≲ n_o, maximum transmittance occurred at normal incidence, regardless of the type of polarization. On the contrary with n_p > n_o, V-polarization gave a peak in the transmittance-voltage curve, and transmittance overshot upon removal of the field, and these were interpreted in terms of effective refractive index and two-step relaxations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36 : 55–64, 1998     

Spectroellipsometric Characterization of Multilayer Sol-Gel Fe2O3 Films

Multilayer Fe₂O₃ films were deposited by the sol-gel method on glass substrates using three successive deposition procedures. The films were thermally treated for 1 h at 300°C.The optical and microstructural properties of these films were investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) in the 500–1000 nm range. The optical gap was found by fitting the dispersion of the film refractive index (n) with the Wemple-DiDomenico (WDD) formula.The ellipsometric measurements showed also that the Fe₂O₃ films are anisotropic. The birefringence values (n) of the sol-gel films (0.05–0.08) are smaller than the large values of the Fe₂O₃ (which are around 0.28) but increase with the crystalization of the films. AFM mesurements showed that the films treated at 300°C start to crystallize.     

Kinetics of refractive index changes in polymeric photochromic films

Methacrylate copolymers containing, in side chain azobenzene groupings with heterocyclic sulfonamide substituents: N-(2,6-dimethylpyrimidin-4-yl)sulfamoyl (sulfisomidine) and N-(5-methylisoxazol-3-yl) sulfamoyl (sulfamethoxazole) were investigated. The materials undergo reversible trans-cis isomerisation during illumination with light. This results in changes of dipole moment, polarizability and refractive index. Ellipsometric measurements showed a distinct decreasing refractive index during illumination with light corresponding to absorption band (ca. 450 nm). Depending on the polymer, the change of real part of refractive index in spin-coated films was between 0.016 and 0.031. The dynamics of growth and decay of refractive index changes, was described by biexponential function approach.     

Ellipsometric study of the glass transition and thermal expansion coefficients of thin polymer films

The glass transition (T_g) of thin polystyrene films (ca. 3000 A?) cast on silicon wafers was determined by a new technique. An ellipsometer was used to determine the refractive index and thickness of the polystyrene films. T_g was determined by measuring the temperature dependence of the refractive index. The change in thickness with temperature was used to calculate the linear and bulk thermal expansion coefficients of the material. A significant shift in T_g, possibly due to strains induced in the cooled films, was observed between heating and cooling for polystyrene films. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Solution processable polyamides containing thiazole units and thioether linkages with high optical transparency,high refractive index,and low birefringence

A series of new organic‐soluble polyamides (PAs) bearing flexible thioether linkages and heteroaromatic thiazole units were synthesized from a novel thioether‐bridged diamine monomer (DA) and various commercially available aromatic dicarboxylic acids (1–5) via a direct polycondensation method. The resulting polymers were obtained in high yields and possessed inherent viscosities in the range of 0.41–0.80 dL g^?1. All of the polymers were amorphous in nature, exhibited good solubility and could be easily dissolved in amide‐type polar aprotic solvents and even dissolved in less polar solvents (e.g., tetrahydrofuran, pyridine, and acetone). They showed excellent thermal stability with glass transition temperatures between 207 and 239 °C and 10% weight loss temperatures in excess of 424 °C in nitrogen and 469 °C in air atmosphere. The optical transmittances of the PA films at 450 nm were higher than 85% for the thickness of ～10 μm. The combination of the thiazole moieties and flexible thioether linkages provided PAs with high average refractive indices (n_av) of 1.7414–1.7542 and low birefringences (Δn) of 0.0061–0.0087 at 632.8 nm. In particular, the n_av of PA‐5 derived from DA and 2,2′‐dithiodibenzoic acid exhibited the highest refractive index (1.7542) in the high refractive index PAs. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 3505–3515     

Electrochemical Proton Intercalation in Vanadium Pentoxide Thin Films and its Electrochromic Behavior in the near-IR Region

This work examines the proton intercalation in vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) thin films and its optical properties in the near-infrared (near-IR) region. Samples were prepared via direct current magnetron sputter deposition and cyclic voltammetry was used to characterize the insertion and extraction behavior of protons in V₂O₅ in a trifluoroacetic acid containing electrolyte. With the same setup chronopotentiometry was done to intercalate a well-defined number of protons in the H_xV₂O₅ system in the range of x=0 and x=1. These films were characterized with optical reflectometry in the near-IR region (between 700 and 1700 nm wavelength) and the refractive index n and extinction coefficient k were determined using Cauchy ’s dispersion model. The results show a clear correlation between proton concentration and n and k.     

A NEW REFRACTION METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE DEGREE OF ETHOXYLATION OF NON-IONIC SURFACTANTS

We have proposed two refractometic methods for determination of the degree of ethoxylation, n, of non-ionic surfactants. The first method allows calculation of n from, the measured values of the refractive index and the density of the sample. In the second method n is found from a calibration curve and the measured refractive index.     

Distributed feedback multipeak laser emission in Rhodamine 6G doped organic-inorganic hybrids

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials were prepared from an ureasil precursor (ureapropyltriethoxysilane designated as UPTES) and acrylic acid modified zirconium (IV) n-propoxide. Thin films containing rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) were prepared by spin-coating on glass substrates with different Zr:Si molar ratios (Zr:Si = 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75). Refractive index, thickness, number of propagating modes and attenuation coefficient were measured at 543.5, 632.8 and 1550 nm wavelengths by the prism coupling technique. Distributed feedback (DFB) laser effect was observed and studied as a function of films thickness and refractive index.     

UV‐induced refractive index modulation of photoreactive polymers bearing N‐acylcarbazole groups

In this study, we report on the synthesis and characterization of photoreactive polymers bearing N‐acetylcarbazole and N‐formylcarbazole groups, respectively. These polymers were easily accessible by polymer analogous acylation of commercially available poly‐(2‐vinylcarbazole). While poly(1‐(2‐vinyl‐9H‐carbazol‐9‐yl)ethanone) (poly‐ 1 ) undergoes a partial photochemical Fries rearrangement, poly(2‐vinyl‐9H‐carbazole‐9‐carbaldehyde) (poly‐ 2 ) decarbonylates smoothly when exposed to UV irradiation. The difference in reactivity between the two acylated polymers is because of the lower stability of the formyl radical, which is formed in the first stage of this photoreaction. Ellipsometric measurements of thin films showed that the photo‐Fries rearrangement in poly‐ 1 causes a change in refractive index by Δn = +0.01 at 650 nm. UV illumination of poly‐ 2 results in a change of the refractive index by Δn = +0.03 at 650 nm, which can be explained by the high yield of the photodecarbonylation of the N‐formylcarbazole groups. Refractive index patterns can be easily realized using lithographic techniques as demonstrated by optical microscopy using a phase contrast set‐up for visualization. Patterned films of poly‐ 1 and poly‐ 2 with feature sizes of about 5 μm were obtained with a mask aligner. Photoreactive polymers bearing N‐acylcarbazole groups are of potential interest for optical applications such as waveguides, optical switches, and data storage devices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Dielectric and optical properties of BaTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> thin films prepared by low-temperature process

Barium titanate (BaTiO₃) thin films have been prepared by low temperature processing on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates using sol-gel-hydrothermal (SGHT) technique, which combined the conventional sol-gel process and hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the barium titanate thin films are polycrystalline. As-reacted barium titanate films grown on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO₂/Si(100) substrates had a dielectric constant (ε) and loss tangent (tanδ) of 80 and 0.05 at 1 MHz, respectively. The optical constants including refractive index n, extinction coefficient k, and absorption coefficient α of the barium titanate thin films in the wavelength range of 2.5–12.6 μm were obtained by infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry.     

Influence of X-ray irradiation on the optical properties of iron (III) chloride tetraphenylporphyrin thin films

The influence of X-ray irradiation in air of iron (III) chloride tetraphenylphorphyrin (FeTPPCl) thin films was carried out in order to investigate changes in optical properties. The changes of refractive index, n, and extinction coefficient, k, were calculated using spectrophotometric measurements of transmittance and reflectance at normal incidence over the spectral range 200–2500 nm. The obtained data of n and k were used to estimate the type of transitions and the optical and fundamental gaps before and after X-ray irradiation. In addition, the normal dispersion of the refractive index is discussed in terms the single oscillator model and Drude model of free carrier absorption.