Abstract

In most of the experiments of photoinduced orientation of dye-containing polymer films, the characterization is made with a single probe beam which measures birefringence or dichroism, with two orthogonal polarizations. This 2D characterization is sufficient for amorphous polymers, with a linearly polarized pump. For the 3D structure of liquid crystal polymers, a few methods have been used, based on the measurement of birefringence with varying incidences [1, 2]. Here, we propose a 3D generalization of the dynamical and spectroscopic absorption method [3]. The sample is sandwiched between two coupling prisms, permitting three probe beams (incidence 0° and ±45°).

© 2003 Optical Society of America