Refractive Index

Synonyms

Index of refraction; Refraction factor; Refraction index; Refractivity

Definition

The refractive index n of a substance is a dimensionless number that describes how light propagates through that medium. It is defined as

$$ n=\frac{c}{v} $$

(1)

where c is the speed of light in vacuum and v is the speed of light in the substance.

Introduction

In order to apply amorphous transparent polymer to various optical materials, such as flat panel display, optical disc, optical lens, and optical fiber, the control of refractive is important. For example, high refractive index and low dispersion are needed for the polymer used for optical lenses, and low refractive index is required for the antireflection film used for the flat panel display.

In this part, relation between refractive index and polymer structure is described, and method of estimating the refractive index and its wavelength dependence of optical polymers from the chemical structure of repeat unit is summarized.

Refractive...