Generation Behaviors of Optical Anisotropy Caused by Silver Nanoparticles Precipitated in Uniaxially Drawn Polyimide Films

摘要

The optical anisotropy generated during thermal curing and simultaneous uniaxial drawing of poly(amic acid) (PAA) films dissolving silver nitrate was investigated. The PAA was converted to polyimide (PI) during thermal curing, and silver nanoparticles were precipitated in the oriented PI films. The anisotropy in optical transmittance, i.e., the polarization characteristic, of the films strongly depended on the holding time at the final curing temperature, and a large anisotropy in transmittance with a wide wavelength region (wide-range optical anisotropy) was observed only for a film cured for the optimal holding time. During heating at the final curing temperature, silver nanoparticles were anisotropically grown and aggregated along the drawing direction, generating a significant optical anisotropy. However, additional heating induces isotropic growth, aggregation, and fusion of silver nanoparticles, resulting in the reduction in anisotropy. A numerical analysis based on the Mie theory revealed that the wide-range optical anisotropy can be generated by the anisotropies in shape and the preferential aggregation and arrays of silver nanoparticles in the drawing direction as well as the large birefringence of PI films as dielectric media.