TY - JOUR A1 - Yadavalli, Nataraja Sekhar A1 - König, Tobias A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - Selective mass transport of azobenzene-containing photosensitive films towards or away from the light intensity JF - Journal of the Society for Information Display N2 - Here, we report on two photosensitive amorphous polymers showing opposite behavior upon exposure to illumination. The first polymer (PAZO) consists of linear backbone to which azobenzene-containing side chains are covalently attached, while in the second polymer (azo-PEI), the azobenzene side chains are attached ionically to a polyelectrolyte backbone. When irradiated through a mask, the PAZO goes away from the intensity maxima, leaving behind topography trenches, while the direction of the mass transport of the azo-PEI polymer points towards the intensity maxima. This kind of behavior has been reported only for certain liquid crystalline polymers that exhibit in-phase reaction on illumination, that is, topography maxima coincides with the intensity maxima. Furthermore, flat nanocrystals placed on top of azo-PEI film was found to be moved together with the mass transport of the underlying polymer film as visualized using in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. It was also demonstrated that the two polymer films respond differently on irradiation with the polarization and intensity interference patterns (IPs). To record the kinetic of the surface relief grating formation within two polymers during irradiation with different IPs, we utilized a homemade setup combining the optical part for the generation of IP and AFM. A possible mechanism explaining different responses on the irradiation of amorphous polymers is discussed in the frame of a theoretical model proposed by Saphiannikova et al. (J. Phys. Chem. B 113, 5032-5045 (2009)). KW - azobenzene KW - surface relief grating KW - light-induced mass transport KW - interference pattern KW - nano-object motion Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/jsid.306 SN - 1071-0922 SN - 1938-3657 VL - 23 IS - 4 SP - 154 EP - 162 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yadavalli, Nataraja Sekhar A1 - Korolkov, Denis A1 - Moulin, Jean-Francois A1 - Krutyeva, Margarita A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - Probing opto-mechanical stresses within azobenzene-containing photosensitive polymer films by a thin metal film placed above JF - ACS applied materials & interfaces N2 - Azo-modified photosensitive polymers offer the interesting possibility to reshape bulk polymers and thin films by UV-irradiation while being in the solid glassy state. The polymer undergoes considerable mass transport under irradiation with a light interference pattern resulting in the formation of surface relief grating (SRG). The forces inscribing this SRG pattern into a thin film are hard to assess experimentally directly. In the current study, we are proposing a method to probe opto-mechanical stresses within polymer films by characterizing the mechanical response of thin metal films (10 nm) deposited on the photosensitive polymer. During irradiation, the metal film not only deforms along with the SRG formation but ruptures in a regular and complex manner. The morphology of the cracks differs strongly depending on the electrical field distribution in the interference pattern, even when the magnitude and the kinetics of the strain are kept constant. This implies a complex local distribution of the opto-mechanical stress along the topography grating. In addition, the neutron reflectivity measurements of the metal/polymer interface indicate the penetration of a metal layer within the polymer, resulting in a formation of a bonding layer that confirms the transduction of light-induced stresses in the polymer layer to a metal film. KW - surface relief grating KW - opto-mechanical stresses KW - bonding layer at the metal/polymer interface KW - rupturing of metal film KW - metal/multilayered graphene/polymer interfaces KW - azobenzene Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/am501870t SN - 1944-8244 VL - 6 IS - 14 SP - 11333 EP - 11340 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Papke, Thomas A1 - Yadavalli, Nataraja Sekhar A1 - Henkel, Carsten A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - Mapping a plasmonic hologram with photosensitive polymer films: standing versus propagating waves JF - ACS applied materials & interfaces N2 - We use a photosensitive layer containing azobenzene moieties to map near-field intensity patterns in the vicinity of nanogrids fabricated within a thin silver layer. It is known that azobenzene containing films deform permanently during irradiation, following the pattern of the field intensity. The photosensitive material reacts only to stationary waves whose intensity patterns do not change in time. In this study, we have found a periodic deformation above the silver film outside the nanostructure, even if the latter consists of just one groove. This is in contradiction to the widely accepted viewpoint that propagating surface plasmon modes dominate outside nanogrids. We explain our observation based on an electromagnetic hologram formed by the constructive interference between a propagating surface plasmon wave and the incident light. This hologram contains a stationary intensity and polarization grating that even appears in the absence of the polymer layer. KW - propagating surface plasmons KW - nanostructured metal surface KW - azobenzene containing photosensitive material KW - surface relief grating Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/am503501y SN - 1944-8244 VL - 6 IS - 16 SP - 14174 EP - 14180 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER -