OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF P(VDF-TrFE) COPOLYMER FILMS BY THE PRISM COUPLING TECHNIQUE

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Abstract
Vinylidene fluoride/trifluoroethylene [P(VDF-TrFE)] copolymers have attracted considerable interest as potential polymer candidates for integrated optics applications because of their good electro-optic and nonlinear optical properties. In this paper, the prism coupling technique was employed to characterize the optical properties of P(VDF-TrFE) 70/30 mol% films. The copolymer films were deposited on Si wafers using the spin coating method and subsequently annealed at 140°C for 2 h. The refractive indices of the copolymer films were measured at 414 nm, 632.8 nm and 1547 nm, respectively. The refractive indices for the TE mode and TM mode, nTE and nTM, decrease slightly with increasing wavelength and their dependence on wavelength can be fitted to the Cauchy formula. Using the inverse Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (i-WKB) method, the refractive index along the thickness of the copolymer films was determined and was found to vary only slightly with depth, indicating good optical homogeneity along the film thickness. The scattering losses in the copolymer films at a wavelength of 1547 nm were measured using the moving fibre method and the losses for the TE0 mode and TM0 mode were 1.55 dB/cm and 1.47 dB/cm, respectively.

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