Optical properties of highly oriented poly(p-phenylene-vinylene)

A review of recent results on the complex refractive index determination of oriented poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) (PPV) by polarized near-normal-incidence reflectance, transmittance and ellipsometry measurements is presented. In particular, the new experimental data obtained for highly stretch-oriented films of PPV and the results of correlated quantum-chemical calculations on the same polymer will be reported and discussed with the purpose of clarify the controversial assignment of the electronic transitions of PPV and its derivatives.