Inorganic-Organic Polymers as Materials for Optical Applications

The use of organic polymers for optical purposes requires special properties: The refractive index should be high or able to be adapted, light scattering should be extremely low, low thermal expansion and high surface hardness are advantageous. Temperature stability should be as high as 100 to 120 °C. Only a few organic polymeric materials have been used for optical purposes in the past e.g. PMMA, polycarbonate, polystyrene and CR 39 for eye glass lenses. Materials for contact lenses are a speciality, since additional requirements such as non-toxicity, oxygen permeability or surface hydrophilicity exist.