Permanent polarization gratings in photosensitive Langmuir-Blodgett films

An investigation was carried out on thin permanent phase polarization grati ngs recorded in Langmuir-Blodgett films using two orthogonal circularly pol arized Ar-ion laser beams. The films are composed of amphiphilic azo-dye mo lecules and manifest an extremely large value of photoinduced optical aniso tropy, Delta n approximate to 0.36. The experimental results are in excelle nt accord with the theoretical model based on the Jones matrix representati on of the polarization pattern. The gratings are stable at least, for half a year. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)04236-4].