Reversible Control of Thermally Enhanced Birefringence in Semicrystalline Azo Polymer Films with Polarized Light

概要

論文の詳細を見る
When a semicrystalline azobenzene-containing polymer film was irradiated with a linearly polarized beam at glass-transition temperature $T_{\text{g}}$, the induced birefringence grew further even after the interception of the pump beam. The resulting birefringence reached 146% of the value at the interception. Because the saturation value of birefringence was proportional to the value induced optically, it can easily be controlled by exposure energy. In addition, the enhanced birefringence showed a high recording stability. In other words, the recovery of birefringence was performed by heat treatment after an erasing process in which the film was irradiated with a circularly polarized beam at room temperature. In contrast, the circularly polarized beam irradiation at $T_{\text{g}}$ eliminated birefringence completely. Hence, the thermally enhanced birefringence was reversed by the irradiations at $T_{\text{g}}$. These properties enable the photocontrol of thermally enhanced birefringence, which is highly useful for reversible holographic storage.
Published by the Japan Society of Applied Physics through the Institute of Pure and Applied Physicsの論文
2006-05-15