Optical storage and photoisomerization characteristics were investigated for composite
Langmuir−Blodgett (LB) films made up of methacrylate copolymers with different weight percentages
of disperse red-13 and cadmium stearate. The influence of the dye content in the copolymer and number
of layers of the composite LB films on the optical storage characteristics is discussed. Distance-dependent
cooperative interactions between azobenzene chromophores seem to affect the time to achieve 50% of
maximum birefringence and the amount of remaining birefringence after the writing beam is switched
off. LB films were also characterized by UV−vis, FTIR, and XRD measurements. The LB fabrication
followed a systematic investigation of monolayer properties of the dye-containing methacrylate copolymers
using surface pressure and surface potential isotherms, to identify optimal deposition conditions. For
instance, monolayers from pure copolymers were not amenable to transfer onto solid substrates, which
was circumvented by codeposition with cadmium stearate.
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