TY  - JOUR
A1  - Saphiannikova, Marina
A1  - Henneberg, Oliver
A1  - Gene, T. M.
A1  - Pietsch, Ullrich
A1  - Rochon, Paul
T1  - Nonlinear effects during inscription of azobenzene surface relief gratings
N2  - Surface relief gratings were inscribed on azobenzene polymer films using a pulselike exposure of an Ar+ laser. The inscription process was initiated by a sequence of short pulses followed by much longer relaxation pauses. The development of the surface relief grating was probed by a He-Ne laser measuring the scattering intensity of the first- order grating peak. The growth time of the surface relief grating was found to be larger than the length of the pulses used. This unusual behavior can be considered as a nonlinear material response associated with the trans-cis isomerization of azobenzene moieties. In this study the polymer stress was assumed to be proportional to the number of cis-isomers. One-dimensional viscoelastic analysis was used to derive the polymer deformation. The rate of trans-cis isomerization increases with the intensity of the inscribing light; in the dark it is equal to the rate of thermal cis- trans isomerization. The respective relaxation times were estimated by fitting theoretical deformation curves to experimental data
Y1  - 2004
SN  - 1520-6106
ER  -