Direct Microscopic Observation of Domain Rearrangement Mechanism of Photo-Orientation Process in Azobenzene-Containing Materials

Alexey V Bogdanov; Andrey Kh Vorobiev

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00294

Direct Microscopic Observation of Domain Rearrangement Mechanism of Photo-Orientation Process in Azobenzene-Containing Materials

J Phys Chem Lett. 2018 Mar 15;9(6):1372-1376. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00294. Epub 2018 Mar 6.

Authors

Alexey V Bogdanov¹, Andrey Kh Vorobiev¹

Affiliation

¹ Chemistry Department , Lomonosov Moscow State University , Leninskie gory, 1/3 , Moscow 119991 , Russian Federation.

PMID: 29498861
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00294

Abstract

The evolution of the domain structure of two azobenzene-containing materials during irradiation with polarized light was monitored using polarized optical microscopy with additional λ-waveplate for discerning the domains oriented parallel and perpendicular to irradiating light polarization. It is shown that the process of photo-orientation consists in growth of perpendicularly oriented domains and diminishing of parallel domains via the movement of domain boundaries. These data confirm the mechanism of photo-orientation via domain structure rearrangement.