Tunable Polarization and Surface Relief Holographic Gratings in Azopolymer Nanocomposites with Incorporated Goethite (α-FeOOH) Nanorods
Lian Nedelchev,
Georgi Mateev,
Velichka Strijkova,
Verónica Salgueiriño,
David S. Schmool,
Nataliya Berberova-Buhova,
Elena Stoykova,
Dimana Nazarova
Affiliations
Lian Nedelchev
Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Georgi Mateev
Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Velichka Strijkova
Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Verónica Salgueiriño
Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas (CINBIO), Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
David S. Schmool
Groupe d’Étude de la Matière Condensíe (GEMaC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Département des Sciences Physiques, Université de Versailles/Saint-Quentin, Université Paris-Saclay, 78000 Versailles, France
Nataliya Berberova-Buhova
Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Elena Stoykova
Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Dimana Nazarova
Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
We employ two approaches to tune the properties of concurrently inscribed volume polarization and surface relief gratings in nanocomposite thin films containing the azopolymer PAZO (poly[1-4-(3-carboxy-4-hydrophenylazo)benzensulfonamido]-1,2-ethanediyl, sodium salt]) and goethite (α-FeOOH) nanorods. The first one is applied on the stage of sample preparation by varying the concentration of the goethite nanorods from 0% to 15%. Then, different angles between the recording beams are set in the holographic scheme, which allow us to obtain gratings with spatial periods in the range from 0.86 to 2.51 µm. Surface relief modulation close to 300 nm is achieved as well as total diffraction efficiency in the ±1 diffracted orders of more than 50%. The influence of the incorporated goethite nanorods on the properties of both volume birefringence and the surface relief grating are discussed.
