Polarization holographic gratings in side-chain azobenzene polyesters with linear and circular photoanisotropy

Ludmila Nikolova, T. Todorov, Mario Tonev Ivanov, F. Andruzzi, Søren Hvilsted, P.S. Ramanujam

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    We investigate thin phase polarization holographic gratings recorded with two waves with orthogonal linear polarizations in materials in which illumination with linearly/circularly polarized light gives rise to linear/circular birefringence. The theoretical analysis shows that the presence of circular photoanisotropy changes significantly the diffraction characteristics of the gratings. The intensities of the waves diffracted in the +1 and -1 orders of diffraction and their ratio depend substantially on the reconstructing-wave polarization. Experiments with films of side-chain liquid-crystalline azobenzene polyester that is a photoanisotropic material of the considered type confirm the unusual polarization properties. It is shown that polarization holography may be used for real-time simultaneous measurement of photoinduced linear and circular birefringence.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalApplied Optics
    Volume35
    Issue number20
    Pages (from-to)3835-3840
    ISSN0003-6935
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1996

    Keywords

    • Polarization holographic gratings
    • Photoanisotropy
    • Side-chain azobenzene polyesters

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