Effects of Laser-Induced Heating on the Photoinduced Birefringence in Azobenzene-Side-Chain Copolymer

The photoinduced birefringence was observed in the polymer poly2-(4-(4-cyanophenyl) diazenyl phenyloxy) ethoxyl methacrylate with a cw 532 nm laser. The azobenzene polymer character has been studied under the conditions of various illuminating time and light intensities. By analysing the processes of reorientation, the effect of laser-induced heating has been introduced to the buildup of photoinduced birefringence in azobenzene-side-chain copolymer. The curves for the buildup of birefringence were fitted with a modified function, i.e., biexponential curves and Gaussian curves. The relationship among all the parameters has also been presented. With the modified fitting function, we obtain a better fitting result.