Photoinduced holographic phase gratings buried in azobenzene side-chain polymer films with a chiral group

An optically active polymer (PM1) containing azobenzene moieties with a chiral group (1-2-methyl-butyl) was synthesized by homopolymerization of monomer, 4-[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyloxy]-4??-(s-2-methyl-1-butyloxycarbonyl) azobenzene, using the free radical polymerization method. The polymer dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF) could be easily processed into high optical quality films. The optical anisotropy of the polymer films was investigated by polarizing optical microscopy (POM). The experimental results showed that irradiation with a circularly polarized beam could align the orientation of the molecules in the polymer films. Moreover, the holographic phase gratings of photo-induced polymer films were detected by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and POM. In comparison with polymer containing no chiral group, it was found from the preliminary measurement of the photo-induced holographic phase gratings that PM1 containing a chiral group could form holographic phase gratings buried in the films.EI0193-982