Polymeric thin films of controlled complex refractive index formed by the electrostatic self-assembled monolayer process

Abstract

This letter reports a method, the electrostatic self-assembled monolayer process, for the synthesis of multilayer thin-film materials with controlled complex refractive index. By incorporating appropriate precursor molecules in each monolayer and organizing the physical order of the multiple monolayers through the material, it is possible to achieve designed complex refractive index properties. In this work, the real part of the refractive index of materials formed by this process was controlled from 1.424 to 1.615, and the imaginary part was controlled from 0.00001 to 0.035, both at a wavelength of 550 nm. To our knowledge, this is the first time that experimental measurements of self-assembled thin films are presented to demonstrate that this method is useful for the design and synthesis of thin films of controllable refractive index.