AZOBENZENE-CONTAINING POLYMER FILMS

摘要

Methods of writing structured surface profiles on azobenzene-containing polymer films are described. The methods include: i) providing a film (10) comprising an azobenzene-containing polymer; ii) maintaining the film at a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the polymer; iii) exposing the film to light (20, 22) having a first spatially-varying amplitude profile along an orientation axis lying along a surface of the film for a first length of time, to form a first pattern on the film having a first sinusoidal component; and iv) exposing the film to light having a second spatially-varying amplitude profile along the orientation axis for a second length of time, to form a second pattern on the film having a second sinusoidal component, wherein the second sinusoidal component overlaps the first sinusoidal component overlaps the first sinusoidal component with a predetermined phase, and wherein the spatial frequency of the second sinusoidal is different than the spatial frequency of the first sinusoidal component, whreby the superposition of the first and second patterns forms the specified surface profile. The invention also describes azobenzen-containing polymer films having structured surface profiles.