Studying the temperature dependence of the laser induced birefringence in azo dye doped polymer films

In this article the effects of different parameters such as sample thickness, concentration of dye in the polymer and the laser pump power, on the temperature dependence of the laser-induced birefringence in azo dye doped polymer films were investigated. DR1-PMMA, DR13-PMMA and MR-PMMA samplers are studied. It is found that the peak temperature at which the induced birefringence is maximum varies depending on the mentioned parameters. Although we might get larger induced birefringence by varying parameters, however the stability of the signal by fluctuation in the temperature might be more important in most applications. In order to achieve more stability, the peak temperature should be around the working temperature. It is possible to tune the peak temperature to the working temperature by optimizing the parameters such as concentration, thickness and pump power for each sample.