Films of a novel polydiacetylene for photonics studies

We have prepared a novel polycarbazolyldiacetylene (polyDCHD-HS) soluble in several organic solvents. The electronic absorption spectra in different solvents show the presence of the red form of the polymer with the excitonic absorption peak around 540 nm. Thin films with thickness in the range 0.02–2.5 μm were prepared by the spin cast technique to characterize the linear optical properties and test the possibility of obtaining guided propagation of light. Films from chloroform solution, though with considerable surface roughness, allowed the measure of the TE and TM refractive indices at both 849 and 1321 wavelengths. Higher quality films, obtained from toluene, allowed to observe a substantial improvement in the waveguiding properties. The results here reported seem quite promising in view of future photonics applications.