Chalcogenide Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Polymers: Ultrahigh Refractive Index Polymers for Infrared Imaging.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Optics

Background:

• Mid-infrared (IR) imaging requires transmissive materials with high refractive indices.
• Conventional materials like Chalcogenide Glasses (ChGs) are effective but can be brittle.
• There is a need for novel, processable polymers with comparable optical properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel polymers with ultrahigh refractive indices for mid-IR applications.
• To explore the potential of inverse vulcanization for creating tunable, IR-transparent materials.
• To demonstrate the utility of these polymers in practical mid-IR imaging.

Main Methods:

• Inverse vulcanization of elemental sulfur, selenium, and 1,3-diisopropenylbenzene.
• Synthesis of poly(sulfur-random-selenium-random-(1,3-diisopropenylbenzene)) terpolymers.
• Characterization of refractive index and IR transparency.
• Melt processing into optical windows.

Main Results:

• Achieved ultrahigh refractive indices (n > 2.0) in synthetic polymers, surpassing existing polymer materials.
• Demonstrated excellent IR transparency tunable by terpolymer composition.
• Successfully fabricated melt-processed windows from Chalcogenide Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Polymers (CHIPs).

Conclusions:

• Inverse vulcanization provides a viable route to high-performance mid-IR transmissive polymers (CHIPs).
• These CHIPs offer a tunable, processable alternative to inorganic ChGs for mid-IR optics.
• Demonstrated successful mid-IR thermal and high-resolution imaging using CHIPs-based windows.