CONDUCTING POLYMER COMPOSITES FOR USE AS INFRARED POLARIZERS

CONJUGATED POLYMERS ARE STRONGLY ABSORBING AND HIGHLY REFLECTING THROUGHOUT THE INFRARED WHEN DOPED TO THEIR CONDUCTING FORM. CONDUCTING POLYMERS ARE, THEREFORE, IDEAL FOR USE AS INFRARED POLARIZERS. WE OUTLINE A NOVEL METHOD TO FABRICATE MECHANICALLY ROBUST COMPOSITE POLYMER FILMS, ORIENTED BY TENSILE DRAWING AND CONTAINING A DESIRED FRACTION OF DOPED CONJUGATED POLYMERS, FOR USE AS POLARIZERSIN THE MID- AND FAR INFRARED. UNIAX WILL FABRICATE UNIFORM,THIN, ALIGNED FILMS BY GEL-PROCESSING CONDUCTING POLYMER COMPOSITES TO PRODUCE STABLE, DOPED FILMS WITH POLARIZATION REJECTION RATIO SUITABLE FOR SPECTROSCOPIC WORK. DURING PHASE I, THE IR-OPTICAL DENSITY AND THE IR-DICHROISM OF THE ORIENTED POLYETHYLENE/CONDUCTING POLYMER BLENDS WILL BE INDEPENDENTLY CONTROLLED AND CHARACTERIZED, AND THE STABILITY OF THE RESULTING IR POLARIZERS WILL BE TESTED.