Optical investigation of molecular structure of sophisticated materials for photonics

Permanent development of photonics stimulates a searching for new materials, which have better optical, mechanical and electrical properties. One of the new classes of materials with large application and development potential are hybrid polymers, synthesized in sol-gel technology. Thanks to incorporation of organic components into an in organic network, a combination of advantages of both class of materials became available. Properties of hybrids may be formed in wide range. These materials can be used in photonics to produce planar waveguides, lenses, Bragg gratings and components for integrated optics. Moreover, dielectric layers, coatings and packaging are made from hybrids. Additionally, research to apply them in optical fiber sensors (including bio-sensors) and solid state lasers is underway. However, to obtain a high quality product, a strict control of its molecular structure must be ensured. This is a very difficult task, because of a sophisticated structure of hybrid polymers. To address these problems, optical, non-destructive measurement techniques such as Raman and infrared spectroscopy were used. They are compementary methods, so their simultaneous application, as it was shown in this paper, can significantly increase the amoung of information about molecular structure of materials and process of their synthesis.