Side-chain polymers bearing azo-moieties for nonlinear optics

In this paper we present a series of side-chain polymers bearing original azo-moieties, namely: poly(methacrylate)s and poly(maleimide-styrene)s; designed for nonlinear optics (NLO). The different classes of azo-polymers are discussed comparatively to one another from the point of view of: solubility, molar weights, glass transition temperatures & thermal stability, chromophore contents, and as well as from the point of view of their third-nonlinear response. The third-order nonlinear absorptive and refractive effect of the polymers containing different substituted azobenzene chromophores were investigated by the Z-scan technique. The effect of substituents on the azobenzene group and the composition of the polymer chain were investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy.