Photoinduced properties of Bis-azo chromophore host guest systems-birefringence and all optical tuneable polymer waveguide Bragg gratings

Abstract

The photoinduced properties of recently synthesised and reported bis-azo dyes doped host-guest polymer films were investigated. The photochromic properties and photoinduced birefringence were characterised. The birefringence was found to be very stable, and 96% of the birefringence was retained after illumination of the films was stopped. The high two photon absorption cross section (1251GM) together with stable photoinduced birefringence makes these materials promising candidates for 3D optical storage. The reported photochromic properties were subsequently used to design and manufacture an all optical integrated device. A waveguide Bragg grating was fabricated, and the Bragg wavelength was controlled over 600 pm by the intensity dependence of the refractive index of the photochromic material.