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Polymeric Materials and Devices
Visible image
MID-IR Image
Infrared (IR) optical technology has generally improved with major breakthroughs in materials. Optical communication, military and defense applications, night vision and thermovision systems, chemical species characterization and inspection, and many other fields have been developed and take advantage of infrared instruments. The increase in demand for infrared optics is pushing manufacturers to produce new, compact and low-cost instruments and in large quantity. To date, many materials for IR optics have been developed, from crystalline semiconductors to amorphous chalcogenide glasses which are expensive and hazardous to handle and process during fabrication. Interest in organic-based alternatives has been present for several decades and such an alternative would enable the production of cheaper and safer IR optical elements and components. TIPD has recently developed materials which demonstrate the potential of polymeric transmitting materials for IR imaging applications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first amorphous polymeric material exhibiting the necessary properties required for IR thermal imaging while also being low in cost.