Optical properties of organic–inorganic hybrid thin films containing polysilane segments prepared from polysilane–methacrylate copolymers

Optical properties of polysilane–silica hybrid thin films have been studied to examine confinement effects of polysilane segments in silica matrices. Polysilane–methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane copolymers are synthesized from photo-radical copolymerization of 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane and using polymethylphenylsilane. Organic–inorganic hybrid thin films with homogeneously dispersed polysilane segments are successfully prepared from the copolymers by a sol–gel method. It is found that UV light-induced degradation of photoluminescence of the polysilane–silica hybrid thin films is suppressed in comparison with that of polymethylphenylsilane at 10 K, and that UV light exposure decreases the refractive index of the polysilane–silica hybrid thin film from 1.60 to 1.40 at room temperature. It is also found that the degree of the anisotropy of the linearly polarized photoluminescence approaches to the theoretical upper limit with decreasing polysilane content in the polysilane–silica hybrid thin films. These results indicate that the fabrication of polysilane–silica hybrid thin film is a new approach for future polysilane based opto-electronic devices.