Holographic interference field-induced localized orientational structures in diacrylate-based polymers

Structures with orientational order were produced in a diacrylate-based polymer by exposing the diacrylate resin to a holographic irradiation created by means of two-beam interferometry. The holographic irradiation acted both as the driving force for the alignment of mesogenic groups and as the optical source that provided energy for generating free radicals for the crosslinking of the acrylate units. In the region exposed to the holographic irradiation, part of the diacrylate resin was aligned, and the alignment state was fixed upon the completion of the crosslink of the acrylic groups, which was initiated by a nonlinear optical process.