title: Commercial scale fabrication method for fabricating a gradient refractive-index rod: Overcoming volume shrinkage and chemical restrictions.
abstract: We report a fabrication method for a gradient refractive-index polymeric object from a binary comonomer system, regardless of the monomers' reactivity ratio and the molar volume criteria of gradient refractive-index development. To fabricate a large gradient refractive-index rod consisting of a methyl methacrylate and 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl methacrylate comonomer pair that has not been used for fabrication of a copolymer gradient refractive-index rod by previous conventional methods because of chemical restrictions in molar volume and reactivity ratio difference, we use the so-called successive UV polymerization in a controlled radial volume in conjunction with an automatic refill reactor. Simultaneously and automatically, the volume shrinkage problem, an inevitable shortcoming for the fabrication of a large polymeric object in a commercial production scale, is overcome and exploited. The theoretical features of the refractive-index profile generation of this method are also compared with those of conventional methods for which the chemical restrictions of monomers are crucial for the shape of a refractive-index profile.
authors.affiliation: Materials and devices Research Center, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Gyeonggi-do 449-712, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hansol
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Young Mok
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Mu Gyeom
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byoung Joo
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ra
authors.forename: Joon-Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seung Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jin Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Min Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: O Ok
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Youn Cheol
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin Taek
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Hwang