Induced birefringence and dichroism in azo polymers. Comparison between amorphous and liquid crystalline polymers
- Queen`s Univ., Kingston, Ontario (Canada)
- Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario (Canada)
Macroscopic order can be induced in amorphous high-Tg azo polymers (usually containing electron-donor - electron-acceptor substituted azobenzene moieties) by exposure to polarized light. The phenomenon is based on a series of trans-cis-trans isomerization cycles and the induced birefringence is typically of 2x10{sup {minus}2}. The ordered domains can be returned to randomness ({open_quotes}erased{close_quotes}) using circularly polarized light. This paper will present a comparison between amorphous and liquid crystalline azo polymers. The most significant difference between these two types of polymers is that any other type of concert with the azo moiety. Consequently the dichroism and birefringence induced in the liquid crystalline polymers can be one order of magnitude higher than in the amorphous polymers. At the same time, however, the time required to achieve saturation also increases by at least one order of magnitude.
- OSTI ID:
- 141669
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930304-; TRN: 93:003688-1350
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 205. American Chemical Society national meeting, Denver, CO (United States), 28 Mar - 2 Apr 1993; Other Information: PBD: 1993; Related Information: Is Part Of 205th ACS national meeting; PB: 1951 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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