Thermal Imaging and Clandestine Surveillance using Low-Cost Polymers with Long-Wave Infrared Transparency

摘要

With increasing use of infrared imaging in medical diagnostics, military andcivilian surveillance, and navigation of autonomous vehicles, there is a needfor low-cost alternatives to traditional materials used in infrared optics suchas germanium. Sulfur-rich copolymers hold promise, as they are made fromlow-cost feedstocks and have a high refractive index. In this report,cyclopentadiene is copolymerized with sulfur to provide a plastic with thehighest long-wave infrared transparency reported to date for this class ofmaterials. Diverse lens architectures are accessible through melt casting orreactive injection molding. The featured copolymer is black, which enabled itsuse as an infrared-transparent blind for protection of thermal imagingequipment and clandestine surveillance. These findings portend expandeduse of sulfur copolymers in infrared optics.