Fabrication and Optical Properties of Erbium-Doped Polymer Films

The crosslinked, fluorinated, patterned and erbium (Er3+) doped polymer films were fabricated by UV-curing after a simple spin-coating. Er3+-doped solutions containing Irgacure 819 used as a radical-type photoinitiator were prepared using erbium (III) trifluoromethane sulfonate as an erbium source, 2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5-octafluoropentyl acrylate as a fluorinated monomer, trimethylolpropane triacrylate and Ebecyl 810 resin as a crosslinking agent with various weight ratios. The fluorinated polymer films fabricated in this study showed the excellent transmission property more than 80% over visible and NIR region, and high thermal decomposition temperature about 310 degrees C sufficient for optical device applications. From these results, the Er3+-doped polymer films developed in this study could be applied to optical telecommunication devices.