Optical and Electro-Optical Properties of a Photocross-Linkable Polymer

Abstract

Planar waveguides from a photocross-linkable polymer have been fabricated on glass and SiO2 on silicon using the spin coating process. The polymer has been cross-linked by exposure to UV radiation (lambda = 254 nm). Prism coupling technique has been used to couple a laser beam into the waveguide structure. The waveguiding parameters such as number of modes, loss, thickness and index of refraction of the polymer have been determined before and after cross-linking. The refractive index of the polymer before cross-linking differs significantly from that after cross-linking. No anisotropy has been observed in the refractive indices for the uncross-linked or cross-linked samples. The refractive index and thickness of the polymer film before and after cross- linking have also been measured using an ellipsometer and found to be in very good agreement with those obtained by the prism coupling technique. Dye molecules with large second order hyperpolarizability were utilized as guests into the photocross-linkable polymer matrix for second order nonlinear optical applications. Electro-optic properties of this polymeric system are reported.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 03, 1991
Accession Number
ADA235903

Entities

People

  • A. K. Rahman
  • B. K. Mandal
  • J. Kumar
  • S. K. Tripathy
  • Xiongfeng Zhu

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Angle Of Incidence
  • Chemistry
  • Coatings
  • Couplings
  • Films
  • Materials Science
  • Military Research
  • Molecules
  • Optical Properties
  • Polymeric Films
  • Polymers
  • Radiation
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Security
  • Spin Coatings
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Materials science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Polymer Science and Technology

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers