Sol-gel optical nanocomposites: Design and applications

The history and method of producing gel-polymer composites is presented. Tailoring properties, such as density, refractive index, hardness, elastic modulus, compressive strength, abrasion resistance, and modulus of rupture is achieved through controlling the ratio of gel-derived silica to polymer phases. Several different applications of composite technology are presented. Solid-state lasing in dye-doped silica gel-PMMA composites has been recently achieved. The difficulties in generating stable photochromism in gels and gel-derived composites are discussed. Microlens arrays for data reading, employing large gel-polymer spheres, have been developed. In addition, a new flat-screen color display technology, based upon the periodic arrangement of dye-doped microsphere pixels, emitting blue, green and red light, is disclosed for the first time.