Polymer nanocomposites for photonics applications, with controlled refractive index in the range 1.46-1.78 were prepared by chemical route and sol-gel process, starting from polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and metal oxides from alkoxides or inorganic salts. The properties of these materials, modified by metal oxide nanoparticles depend on the composition/metal oxide concentration, particle size and dispersion homogeneity. Ellipsometric method was used to analyse the changes in the refractive index of the nanocomposites with respect to increasing particle concentration and the spectrophotometry to determine the optical transmittance. The size and dispersity of the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix were appreciated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). As is expected, the refractive index measured on the polymer thin films spincoated onto substrates rise with respect to oxide concentration for the polymers modified with TiO₂, ZrO₂ or CuO in the entire visible region and decrease with the oxide concentration when the polymers are modified with SiO₂. For the all compound the transmittance remain above 90% in the visible wavelength spectra. The particle dimensions are in the range 10 - 100 nm and were controlled through the parameters and the method of synthesis.

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