The visible and near-infrared optical absorption coefficient spectrum of Parylene C measured by transmitting light through thin films in liquid filled cuvettes

Parylene C (PPXC) is a polymer deposited from the gas phase to form optically clear thin films used in devices including waveguides and sensors. The performance of these devices depends on the visible and near infrared absorption coefficient of PPXC. However, the absorption coefficient is difficult to measure. This is because PPXC films are typically too thin to exhibit detectable absorption in conventional transmittance measurements. To address this challenge, a method involving measuring the transmittance of multiple films immersed together in a liquid filled cuvette was devised. This increased the sensitivity to absorption by increasing the path length in PPXC, while also minimizing reflections and surface losses. Using 200-500 µm thick films, this method was applied to measure the absorption coefficient of PPXC at wavelengths in the range 330-3300 nm. The coefficient was found to vary spectrally by more than two orders of magnitude from 0.025 mm⁻¹ at 1562 nm to 7.7 mm⁻¹ at 3262 nm. These absorption measurements could aid the design of PPXC based sensors and waveguides. The method could be useful for measuring the absorption coefficient of other thin, low-loss materials, particularly those for which it is challenging to obtain thick samples such as other polymers deposited from the gas phase in a similar manner to PPXC.