Light mediated emergence of surface patterns in azopolymers at low temperatures

Abstract

Polymer thin films doped with azobenzene molecules do have the ability to organize themselves in spontaneous surface relief gratings (SRG) under irradiation with a single polarized beam. To shed some light in this still unexplained phenomenon, we use a new method that permits us to access experimentally the very first steps of the pattern formation process. Decreasing the temperature, we slow down the formation and organization of patterns, due to the large increase of the viscosity and relaxation time of the azopolymer. As a result decreasing the temperature allows us to access and study much shorter time scales,in the physical mechanisms underlying the pattern formation, than previously reported. We find that the patterns organize themselves in sub-structures which size increase with the temperature, following the diffusion coefficient evolution of the material. That result suggests that the pattern formation and organization is mainly governed by diffusive processes, in agreement with some theories of the SRG formation. Decreasing further the temperature we observe the emergence of small voids located at the junction of the sub-structures.