Near infra-red optical materials from polymeric amorphous carbon synthesised by collisional plasma process

TL;DR

This paper reports on the synthesis of polymer-like amorphous carbon thin films with tunable optical properties using a collisional plasma process, highlighting their potential for optoelectronic applications in the near-infrared range.

Contribution

It introduces a novel collisional plasma method to produce amorphous carbon films with embedded poly(p-phenylene vinylene) that have customizable refractive indices and near-infrared transparency.

Findings

Films contain significant poly(p-phenylene vinylene) inclusions.

Refractive index can be tailored for specific optical properties.

Material exhibits absorption-free behavior in visible to near-infrared range.

Abstract

The synthesis of polymer-like amorphous carbon (a-C:H) thin-films by microwave excited collisional hydrocarbon plasma process is reported. Stable and highly aromatic a-C:H were obtained containing significant inclusions of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV). PPV confers universal optoelectronic properties to the synthesised material. That is a-C:H with tailor-made refractive index are capable of becoming absorption-free in visible (red) - near infrared wavelength range. Production of large aromatic hydrocarbon including phenyl clusters and/or particles is attributed to enhanced coagulation of elemental plasma species under collisional plasma conditions. Detailed structural and morphological changes that occur in a-C:H during the plasma synthesis are also described.