Photocurable silica hybrid organic-inorganic films for photonic applications

摘要

We report the preparation of hybrid organic-inorganic films deposited by dip-coating from a base-catalyzed sol containing tetraethoxysilane and 3-mefha-cryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane as the silicon source,and ethyl-2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylphenylphosphinate as the photoinitiator.The films were cured with a UV lamp,obtaining a change in refractive index upon UV irradiation through the formation of an interpenetrated silica-methac-rylate network.The refractive index increased of DELTAn - 14 x 10~(-3) after UV treatment.The synthesis is simple and reproducible and yields films with optical quality which can be useful as materials for applications in optics and information storage.