Processing and optical properties of inorganic-organic hybrids (polycerams). I. MPEOU-based waveguides

Sol-gel techniques have been employed to synthesize a number of organic-modified hybrid materials (polycerams) using a functionalized organic polymer (N-triethoxysilypropyl O-polyethylene oxide urethane) together with a range of metal alkoxides and acetates. Despite the disparate nature of the constituents, the chemistry and processing have been successfully controlled to achieve a high level of homogeneity down to the molecular level. The opticla properties (index of refraction, loss, dispersion and transmittance) of the polycerams are reported as functions of various metal oxides. These properties are then correlated to the homogeneity of the network. Polycerams of differing compositions can be easily designed and synthesized to yield low-loss ( < 1 dB / cm) optical waveguides with the desired refractive index and dispersion.