One Dimensional Photonic Crystals Using Ultrahigh Refractive Index Chalcogenide Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Polymers

Tristan S Kleine; Liliana Ruiz Diaz; Katrina M Konopka; Laura E Anderson; Nicholas G Pavlopolous; Nicholas P Lyons; Eui Tae Kim; Youngkeol Kim; Richard S Glass; Kookheon Char; Robert A Norwood; Jeffrey Pyun

doi:10.1021/acsmacrolett.8b00245

One Dimensional Photonic Crystals Using Ultrahigh Refractive Index Chalcogenide Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Polymers

ACS Macro Lett. 2018 Jul 17;7(7):875-880. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.8b00245. Epub 2018 Jul 2.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona, 1306 East University Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
² College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, 1630 East University Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States.
³ The World Class University Program for Chemical Convergence for Energy and Environment, The National Creative Research Initiative Center for Intelligent Hybrids, School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.

PMID: 35650762
DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.8b00245

Abstract

We report on the fabrication of wholly polymeric one-dimensional (1-D) photonic crystals (i.e., Bragg reflectors, Bragg mirrors) via solution processing for use in the near (NIR) and the short wave (SWIR) infrared spectrum (1-2 μm) with very high reflectance (R ∼ 90-97%). Facile fabrication of these highly reflective films was enabled by direct access to solution processable, ultrahigh refractive index polymers, termed, Chalcogenide Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Polymers (CHIPs). The high refractive index (n) of CHIPs materials (n = 1.75-2.10) allowed for the production of narrow band IR Bragg reflectors with high refractive index contrast (Δn ∼ 0.5) when fabricated with low n polymers, such as cellulose acetate (n = 1.47). This is the highest refractive index contrast (Δn ∼ 0.5) demonstrated for an all-polymeric Bragg mirror which directly enabled high reflectivity from films with 22 layers or less. Facile access to modular, thin, highly reflective films from inexpensive CHIPs materials offers a new route to IR Bragg reflectors and other reflective coatings with potential applications for IR photonics, commercial sensing, and LIDAR applications.