High refractive index polymers for optical applications

High refractive index (RI) materials are extremely important in many optical applications. Polymers traditionally have relatively low refractive indices, but they can be raised to technologically useful values. Our group has prepared RI tunable materials up to 1.68 using brominated and aromatic monomers in a copolymer synthesis method. These copolymers are transparent in the technologically important near-IR, have high glass transition temperatures, and are good film formers. These attributes make them useful in optical quality composites where a RI-controlled matrix material is used to match the RI of the incorporated phase to avoid scattering. In addition to composites, applications of these high RI materials include antireflective coatings and high RI lenses, among others.