Light induced reversible structuring of photosensitive polymer films
- In this paper we report on photoswitchable polymer surfaces with dynamically and reversibly fluctuating topographies. It is well known that when azobenzene containing polymer films are irradiated with optical interference patterns the film topography changes to form a surface relief grating. In the simplest case, the film shape mimics the intensity distribution and deforms into a wave like, sinusoidal manner with amplitude that may be as large as the film thickness. This process takes place in the glassy state without photo-induced softening. Here we report on an intriguing discovery regarding the formation of reliefs under special illumination conditions. We have developed a novel setup combining the optical part for creating interference patterns, an AFM for in situ acquisition of topography changes and diffraction efficiency signal measurements. In this way we demonstrate that these gratings can be “set in motion” like water waves or dunes in the desert. We achieve this by applying repetitive polarization changes to the incomingIn this paper we report on photoswitchable polymer surfaces with dynamically and reversibly fluctuating topographies. It is well known that when azobenzene containing polymer films are irradiated with optical interference patterns the film topography changes to form a surface relief grating. In the simplest case, the film shape mimics the intensity distribution and deforms into a wave like, sinusoidal manner with amplitude that may be as large as the film thickness. This process takes place in the glassy state without photo-induced softening. Here we report on an intriguing discovery regarding the formation of reliefs under special illumination conditions. We have developed a novel setup combining the optical part for creating interference patterns, an AFM for in situ acquisition of topography changes and diffraction efficiency signal measurements. In this way we demonstrate that these gratings can be “set in motion” like water waves or dunes in the desert. We achieve this by applying repetitive polarization changes to the incoming interference pattern. Such light responsive surfaces represent the prerequisite for providing practical applications ranging from conveyer or transport systems for adsorbed liquid objects and colloidal particles to generation of adaptive and dynamic optical devices.…
Author details: | Joachim Jelken, Svetlana SanterORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA02571E |
ISSN: | 2046-2069 |
Title of parent work (English): | RSC Advances |
Publisher: | RSC Publishing |
Place of publishing: | London |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2019/06/28 |
Publication year: | 2019 |
Release date: | 2019/10/11 |
Tag: | azobenzene elastomers; birefringence; erasure; induced deformation; mass-transport; network; roughness; surface-relief gratings; thin-films |
Volume: | 9 |
Issue: | 35 |
Number of pages: | 11 |
First page: | 20295 |
Last Page: | 20305 |
Funding institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Funding number: | PA 2019_56 |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Physik und Astronomie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 54 Chemie / 540 Chemie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Grantor: | Publikationsfonds der Universität Potsdam |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
License (German): | CC-BY-NC - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell 4.0 International |
External remark: | Zweitveröffentlichung in der Schriftenreihe Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe ; 750 |