Optoelectronic properties and holographic optical recording of a dithienylperfluorocyclopentene compound having two phenanthryl units

Abstract

A phenanthrenyl-substituted diarylethene derivative (1,2-bis[5-phenanthryl-2-methylthiophen-3-yl] perfluorocyclopentene, Ph-BMTFP) has been synthesized and its optoelectronic properties have been investigated. The photochromic reactivity of Ph-BMTFP was examined in hexane solution as well as in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) amorphous film. Upon irradiation with 313 nm UV light, the colorless solution turned purple, in which a visible absorption band was observed at 555 nm. In PMMA film, the new broad absorption band at λ max = 580 nm appeared when it was irradiated by 313 nm UV light. The compound exhibited good fluorescence in hexane solution and its fluorescence intensity decreased along with the photochromic reactivity upon irradiation with 313 nm UV light. This property could be potentially applied to high-density optical memory with fluorescence readout method. The holographic optical storage was performed successfully using Ph-BMTFP as the recording medium and polarization multiplexing holograms recording can effectively increase the information storage capacity of the holographic data storage.