Optical waveguides from novel polymeric Langmuir-Blodgett multilayer assemblies

Multilayer assemblies of various partially long alkyl chain substituted polyglutamates have been prepared by the Langmuir-Blodgett dipping technique ranging in thickness from a double layer (3.5 nm thick) to more than 500 layers ({approximately} 1 {mu}m thick). Surface plasmon spectroscopy, photothermal interference spectroscopy, and waveguide spectroscopies have been employed to characterize the thickness and the optical properties including the anisotropies of the index of refraction of these films as a function of the number of layers. Waveguide mode-loss measurements of the first all-polyglutamate waveguide sample yielded values in the range 2.5-5.5 dB/cm.