Facile design of red-emitting waveguides using hybrid nanocomposites made of inorganic clusters dispersed in SU8 photoresist host

• Photoluminescent metallic clusters as candidates for integrated devices.
• Stable hybrid nanocomposite waveguides are patterned by simple lithography process.
• Propagation losses compatible with integrated optics applications.

Integration of stable emissive entities into organic waveguide with minimum scattering is essential to design efficient optically active devices. Here we present a new class of doped nanocomposite waveguides exploiting 1-nm diameter metallic cluster-based building blocks as red-NIR luminescent dyes embedded in a SU8 polymeric matrix, a reference photoresist for organic photonics. These building blocks are [Mo6Ii8(OOCC2F5)a6]2− cluster anionic units with unique chemical and physical features well suited for optical nanocomposites such as a ligand-promoted dispersibility, a large Stokes shift with a broad absorption window and an emission window in the range 600–900 nm. A whole investigation of the nanocomposite has been first performed. Optical characterizations of Cs2[Mo6Ii8(OOCCnF2n+1)a6]@SU8 nanocomposites thin film and waveguiding structures show their relevance as active layers in integrated structures with a significant increase of the refractive index of 3 × 10−2 when the cluster concentration increases up to 4 wt%, while keeping high values for the transmitted power, as shown for different waveguide dimensions and clusters concentrations. The efficiency of photoluminescence propagation is investigated as a function of clusters concentration in the excitation area for several waveguides dimensions. Attenuation coefficient ranges between 5 and 18 dB/cm, values of the same order of magnitude as those obtained in polymeric waveguide doped with QDs or organic dyes. This original, stable and efficient nanocomposite is promising for downscaling complex nanosources and active waveguides in the visible and NIR range.