Holographic gratings and holographic image storage via photochemical phase transitions of polymer azobenzene liquid-crystal films

Takahiro Yamamoto; Makoto Hasegawa; Akihiko Kanazawa; Takeshi Shiono; Tomiki Ikeda

doi:10.1039/A905501K

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Takahiro Yamamoto,^a Makoto Hasegawa,^a Akihiko Kanazawa,^a Takeshi Shiono^a and Tomiki Ikeda*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Research Laboratory of Resources Utilization, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Japan
E-mail: tikeda@res.titech.ac.jp
Web: http://www.res.titech.ac.jp/polymer

Abstract

Phase-type gratings formed by photochemical phase transitions of a polymer azobenzene liquid crystal have been characterized. The sensitivity of the material was improved by a factor of 23 in the liquid-crystalline phase owing to effective induction of the photochemical phase transition in the bright fringes of the interference pattern. A mechanism for grating formation in films based on dynamics both in grating formation and for the photochemical phase transition has been proposed. Observation of the grating structure with a polarizing optical microscope confirmed that the isotropic phase induced photochemically was arranged at well defined separations. The polymer azobenzene liquid crystal showed a storage capability of >100 Mbits cm⁻² which corresponds to a resolution of <1 µm and a spatial frequency of >1000 lines mm⁻¹. We also attempted holographic image storage using a photomask as an object.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/A905501K
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 08 Jul 1999
Accepted: 26 Oct 1999
First published: 14 Jan 2000

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J. Mater. Chem., 2000,10, 337-342

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