English Abstract

Development and Application of the Cyclo-Olefin Polymer for the Optical Use Teiji KOHARA Specialty Plastics Laboratory, Research & Development Center, ZEON Corporation, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan Nippon Gomu Kyokaishi,(2006),79(4),244-249 General Review in Japanese Abstract The amorphous cyclo-olefin polymer has been developed for optical uses. ZEON's cyclo-olefin polymer (it is abbreviated as COP) which consist of hydrocarbon shows good transparency, low birefringence, high heat-resistance, very low water absorbency and good moldability. COP has widely been used as a material for optical components such as optical lenses, prisms, optical cells for the analysis, optical films, light guide pates, light diffusers for LCD. The change of the refractive index of COP is small even in under high humidity and high temperature conditions so that the changes in spherical aberration of COP lense are very small. They demonstrate high reliability. For the DVD pickup lens, we successfully developed the new cyclo-olefin polymer which is more excellent in the blue laser resistance than the conventional cyclo-olefin polymer. In this paper, besides optical applications, characteristics of the cyclo-olefin polymer as high frequency insulating material are also introduced. Keywords: Cyclo-olefin polymer, Optical use, Amorphous, Transparency, Birefringence

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