Photoinduced mass transport in soft materials

The surface relief grating formation in amorphous As2S3 and azo-benzene polymer films strongly depends on the polarization state of recording beams. The surface relief grating formation efficiency of s-s and p-p recording beam combination can be essentially enhanced by additional illumination with orthogonal polarization. It is shown that the direction of mass transport on the film surface is determined by the direction of light electric vector.