Prospective and Conclusions

As mentioned in the beginning, the azo-polymers take a special place among prospective materials for nonlinear optical applications. This chapter attempted to summarize research activities aimed at all-optical controlling third- 

20 Intensity grating reflectivity as a function of time, at sample temperatures of 35°C and 65 C. Note that at T =35°C, the reflectivity shows a sharp peak when the beams are switched on at time 30 s, as shown by arrow. After Ref. 4. 

The fact that isomerization and relaxation processes are sensitive to the temperature of a specimen allows a combined optical-temperature control of azo-polymer third-order susceptibility. The temperature-tuned VPC is just one example of this. Combination of optical excitation and temperature variations may result in more effective governing linear and nonlinear optical properties of azo-dye polymer materials. 

Prasad, P. N., and Williams, D. J. (1991). Introduction to Nonlinear Optical Effects in Molecules and Polymers. John Wiley Sons, New York. 

Dumont, M., Hosotte, S., Froc, G., and Sekkat, Z. (1994). Orientational manipulation of chromophores through photoisomerization. In Photopolymers and Applications in Holography, Optical Data Storage, Optical Sensors, and Interconnects. (R. A. Lessard, cd.), Proc. SPIE 2042,2-13. 

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