Photoinduced surface relief grating formation using new polymers containing the same azobenzene chromophore as a photochoromic amorphous molecular material

In order to gain an insight into the relationship between the structure of polymer main chain and photoinduced surface relief grating (SRG) formation, new vinyl, acrylate, and methacrylate polymers containing the same azobenzene chromophore as a photochromic amorphous molecular material were designed and synthesized. Comparative studies of photoinduced SRG formation using these new polymers together with the parent amorphous molecular material showed that the rate of SRG formation increased in the order: the vinyl polymer