Optical properties of perfluorocyclobutyl polymers

As the interest in utilizing fluoropolymers in a greater number of value-added photonic applications continues to grow, so does the necessity for accurate and broadband characterization of their optical properties. This paper provides the canonical optical properties of the refractive index and the extinction coefficient for two perfluorocyclobutyl-based polymers over the spectral range from approximately 0.13 mum to 33 mum, including their respective Sellmeier coefficients. In addition, the data are used to compare Sellmeier versus Cauchy fits to dispersion data in order to elucidate the potential pitfalls in computing system-level design criterion, such as bandwidth. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.