Efficient surface-relief gratings in hydrogen-bonded polymer-azobenzene complexes

In this paper, we demonstrate that surface-relief gratings (SRGs) with modulation depth of up to 440 nm can be inscribed through the use of hydrogen bonding between the polymer and the chromophores. We have studied the surface-relief formation in hydrogen-bonded polymer-azobenzene complexes of poly(4- vinyl phenol) and 4-(2-Pyridylazo)-N,N-dimethylaniline (PVPh(PADA)
_x
) as a function of the chromophore content and for different molecular weights of the PVPh host polymer.