Transmission behavior in a photorefractive polymer film

When a p-polarized beam propagates through a high-performance photorefractive polymer composite, poly dimethyl-4-(4^′-nitrophenylazo)benzene, its transmission behavior is influenced by three effects: the electroabsorption, the photorefractive coupling with the reflected beam from the rear surface, and the amplified scattering. From the measurements on the incidence angle dependence as well as the applied-electric-field dependence of the three effects, some conclusions are obtained. At a small incidence angle with a low applied electric field, both the amplified scattering and the electroabsorption are small whereas the coupling between the incident beam and the reflected beam plays a principal role. At a large incidence angle or with a high poling electric field, the transmission is influenced mainly by the amplified scattering and the electroabsorption. A poling electric field asymmetric loss to the amplification scattering is also observed. Received: 18 November 1998 / Revised version: 10 February 1999 / Published online: 12 April 1999