Surface relief gratings on polymer dispersed liquid crystals by polarization holography

We report the observation of surface relief gratings (SRGs) on polymer dispersed liquid crystal films after polarization holographic recording, demonstrating the formation of SRGs in systems without azo compounds, where photoisomerization and chromophore reorientation processes do not occur. Permanent SRGs, several hundred nanometers deep, are recorded on the surface of a polymeric material containing oriented liquid crystal droplets. The results suggest that SRG growth under uniform intensity irradiation is not exclusively related to the photoisomerization, but is a more general phenomenon which can involve different photoinduced chemical and physical mechanisms sensitive to the light polarization state. These effects contribute to the formation of anisotropic structures during the recording process.