Study on the thermal properties of doped PMMA systems

The thermal optical coefficient (TOC) and volume thermal expansion coefficient (TEC or β) of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymers doped with azobenzene dyes were investigated. A novel approach for determining the TEC has been suggested and a non-linear variation in the TOC with increasing wt% of the dopant has been observed and tentatively explained. In addition, the refractive index (RI) contrast necessary for forming a waveguide was demonstrated to be easily achievable by adding a higher-refractive-index material to the blank polymer.