Photopolymerization of acryl composites for producing waveguides with high transparency within telecommunication spectral regions

Abstract

The photopolymerization of hydrocarbon and fluorine-containing monomers and oligomers synthesized in this work for the creation of planar polymer waveguides has been studied. The kinetics of the copolymerization of hydrocarbon and fluorinated compounds hardly depends on the number and structure of fluorinated moieties. The overall kinetics of the photoinitiated polymerization of acryl oligomers with different chemical nature of their oligomer block, molecular masses, and local and macroscopic viscosities has been studied by IR spectroscopy. At high initiation rates, the oligomer block’s flexibility, which is governed by the number of groups with a low potential rotational barrier, e.g., carbonate groups, is the principal factor that influences the kinetics of polymerization. At low initiation rates, the viscosity of oligomers becomes an essential factor. The optimal conditions for molding optical articles from hydrocarbon and fluorinated acryl oligomer composites have been determined.