Enhanced Photorefractivity of Poly(N‐vinylcarbazole)‐Based Composites through Electric‐Field Treatments and Ionic Liquid Doping

Abstract

AbstractIt is shown that the photorefractive (PR) performance of polymer composites based on poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) can be improved when samples are subjected to an electric field for a certain time, i.e. conditioned, previous to the PR characterization. It is also found that for conditioned samples the addition of an organic ionic liquid to the PR composition allows to obtain PR effect without the need of using a sensitizer. The typical electric field treatment time at room temperature and at a field of 20 V µm−1 is 20 min. This procedure leads to a decrease of dark conductivity and an increase of photoconductivity, and consequently an increase of conductivity contrast. This results in higher PR two‐beam‐coupling gain coefficients and shorter response times, particularly at low fields. Dependencies of the process dynamics on impurities, applied field strength, temperature and the presence of an organic ionic liquid are examined in detail. It is remarkable the significant increase of the PR gain coefficients, and more drastically of the net gain coefficients, observed at low fields (<55 V µm−1), when an ionic organic liquid such as benzalkonium chloride is added to unsensitized conditioned PR composites. These findings open a new route to improve the PR performance, not only of PVK‐based composites, but also of other types of organic materials, the main advantage being that no sensitizer is needed.