In this work, two photo-structuring processes, photo induced spontaneous surface structuring (PSSP) and photo induced supramolecular chirality (PSC) are applied to high-performance azo polymers. We demonstrate higher induced optical rotation than described previously in other reports and show that self-organized surface morphologies are not detrimental for the formation of PSC.

Here, we will show photo-induced supramolecular chirality in thin films of achiral amorphous polymers with azo groups in their side-chain. A matter of particular interest is the effect of various film thicknesses on azimuthal rotation and ellipticity of incident/transmitted polarized light. Furthermore, we investigated the temporal stability of inscribed chirality. By polarimetric measurements, we found out that the azimuthal rotation gets higher with layer thickness. In this scope, we were able to measure a very high azimuthal rotation of Δψ/d=112.5∘/μm. The inscribed chirality was stable for several days. Furthermore, we investigated the time-resolved behavior of incident and transmitted polarization ellipticities for various thicknesses. The time dependency may be explained by a two-step process: (1) fast trans-cis-isomerization resulting in photo-orientation and (2) slow photo-induced mass flow.

A blend of low molecular azo glass (AZOPD) and polystyrene (PS) were used for the systematic investigation of photo-induced stretching and recovery of nanoimprinted structures. For this purpose, light and heat was used as recovery stimuli. The AZOPD/PS microstructures, fabricated with thermal nanoimprint lithography (tNIL), comprises three different shapes (circles, crosses and squares) and various concentrations of AZOPD fractions. The results show a concentration-dependent reshaping. Particularly the sample with 43 w-% of the AZOPD fraction have shown the best controllable recovery for the used parameters. A possible explanation for shape recovery might be the stabilizing effect of the PS-matrix.