Dichroism of Poly(vinylalcohol) Films Containing Gold Nanorods Induced by Polarized Pulsed-Laser Irradiation

Gold nanorods (NRs) dispersed in a poly(vinylalcohol) film were transformed into spherical particles by one shot of a pulsed-laser light (1064 and 532 nm, 6–7 ns). Irradiation by the linearly polarized laser light distinctly induced orientation-selective transformation of the NRs, which resulted in large dichroic properties of the film. The degree of the transformation depended on the wavelength as well as the polarization direction of the pulsed-laser light.