Photoinduced optical retardation in mesostructured dye-doped films investigated by an imaging pump-probe technique

The photoinduced optical retardation in mesostructured polymeric materials containing photo-orientable dyes has been investigated as a function of time and pump irradiance by an imaging pump-probe technique. The mesostructured samples show higher maximum retardation and lower residual anisotropy than amorphous ones. Several hypotheses are made to explain both results, taking into account the influence of the mesostructures on the chromophores. The retardation-irradiance curves measured in different samples are fitted against current available models. © 2009 Optical Society of America.