Abstract
A novel mean-field theory of photoinduced reorientation and optical anisotropy in liquid crystalline side-chain polymers is presented and compared with experiments, The reorientation mechanism is based on photoinduced trans <-> cis isomerization and a multidomain model of the material is introduced. The theory provides an explanation for the high long-term stability of the photoinduced anisotropy as well as a theoretical prediction of the temporal behavior of photoinduced birefringence. The theoretical results agree favorably with measurements in the entire range of writing intensities used experimentally.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 79 |
| Issue number | 13 |
| Pages (from-to) | 2470-2473 |
| ISSN | 0031-9007 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1997 |