Photorefractive polymers based on bis-triarylamine side-chain polymers

We report on the photorefractive properties of two polymer composites that utilize a new bis-triarylamine side-chain polymer matrix. Correctly locating the frontier orbitals of the new transport manifold with respect to the HOMO levels of chromophores, allows stable continuous operation over exposure levels of more that 4 kJ/cm(2) when samples are electrically biased at 57 V/mum. This operational stability is combined with video-rate compatible grating build-up times and a dynamic range that allows index modulations of 3 X 10(-3) and gain coefficients on the order of 100 cm(-1) at moderate fields. The thermal stability of one of the composites reported is excellent, showing no signs of phase separation even after one week at 60degreesC. A comparison with the stability of composites where the new matrix was replaced by PVK is also presented.