Optical alignment control of polyimide molecules containing azobenzene in the backbone structure

Using polarized infrared absorption spectroscopy, we have determined the orientation of the polyimide backbone structure in photo-alignment films for liquid crystals (LC). The polyimide used in this study contains azobenzene in the backbone structure. Photo-alignment treatment was performed on the corresponding polyamic acid film, using a light source of wavelength 340–500 nm. The polyamic acid film (∼16 nm thick) was first irradiated at normal incidence with linearly polarized light (LP-light) of 156 J/cm 2, and then oblique angle irradiation of unpolarized light (UP-light) was performed in the plane of incidence perpendicular to the polarization direction of the LP-light. The UP-light exposure was varied up to 882 J/cm 2. We found that the average inclination angle of the polyimide backbone structure, measured from the surface plane, increases almost linearly with UP-light exposure. On the other hand, the in-plane anisotropy induced by the first irradiation with LP-light decreases with the increase of UP-light exposure.