Influence of the size of Au nanoparticles on the photoinduced birefringence and diffraction efficiency of polarization holographic gratings in thin films of azopolymer nanocomposites

Abstract

This study is aimed to determine the influence of the size of gold (Au) nanoparticles (NP) doped in azopolymer PAZO (poly[1-[4-(3-carboxy-4-hydroxyphenylazo) benzenesulfonamido]-1,2-ethanediyl, sodium salt]) on the photoinduced birefringence of the nanocomposite thin films as well as on the diffraction efficiency of polarization holographic gratings recorded in them. For this reason, we used spherical Au NP with five different dimensions – 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 nm. Concentrations of the NP in the nanocomposites varied from 0 a.u. (non-doped samples) to 16 a.u. where 1 a.u. corresponds to 0.015 wt %. Birefringence was induced with He–Cd laser (λ = 442 nm) and measured at 635 nm using DPSS laser. We observe an enhancement of photoinduced birefringence, which is most pronounced for the Au NP with size 20 nm. The polarization holographic gratings were inscribed with two orthogonal circular polarizations (left- and right-handed). AFM measurements were performed to determine the properties of the resulting surface relief gratings. Our results indicate that both the diffraction efficiencies and surface relief modulation of the gratings inscribed in the nanocomposite thin films are higher compared to those in the non-doped samples.