Photoinduced Surface Relief Grating on Amorphous Poly(4-phenylazophenol) Films

Large-amplitude surface relief gratings on enzymatically synthesized poly(4-phenylazophenol) dye films were holographically induced without postprocessing steps. Recording of the gratings is strongly dependent on the polarization of the writing beams. The phase shift of the topographic grating with respect to the interference pattern was inferred by analyzing a Gaussian laser beam induced surface deformation on the dye film. The mechanism for the surface deformation and grating formation are explained in the framework of the optical field gradient force model.