Optical control of structural morphology in azobenzene containing polymeric liquid crystals

We present a study of photoinduced transitions occurring in a low T-G liquid crystalline polymer containing the azobenzene group in the side chain. The structural phase of this material can be optically switched between the glassy, nematic and isotropic states. We show the equivalence of light and temperature in causing these effects, promoting this material as a tool in the investigation of structural relaxation at transitions in confined geometry and fast temperature variation as in the case of the optically induced quenching that we report. The results allow us to propose also alternative writing methods for the application of these materials to high density optical memories.