Athermal photofluidization of glasses

G.J. Fang, J.E. Maclennan, Y. Yi, M.A. Glaser, M. Farrow, E. Korblova, D.M. Walba, T.E. Furtak and N.A. Clark ()
Additional contact information
G.J. Fang: University of Colorado
J.E. Maclennan: University of Colorado
Y. Yi: University of Colorado
M.A. Glaser: University of Colorado
M. Farrow: University of Colorado
E. Korblova: University of Colorado
D.M. Walba: University of Colorado
T.E. Furtak: Colorado School of Mines
N.A. Clark: University of Colorado

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Azobenzene and its derivatives are among the most important organic photonic materials, with their photo-induced trans–cis isomerization leading to applications ranging from holographic data storage and photoalignment to photoactuation and nanorobotics. A key element and enduring mystery in the photophysics of azobenzenes, central to all such applications, is athermal photofluidization: illumination that produces only a sub-Kelvin increase in average temperature can reduce, by many orders of magnitude, the viscosity of an organic glassy host at temperatures more than 100 K below its thermal glass transition. Here we analyse the relaxation dynamics of a dense monolayer glass of azobenzene-based molecules to obtain a measurement of the transient local effective temperature at which a photo-isomerizing molecule attacks its orientationally confining barriers. This high temperature (Tloc~800 K) leads directly to photofluidization, as each absorbed photon generates an event in which a local glass transition temperature is exceeded, enabling collective confining barriers to be attacked with near 100% quantum efficiency.

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:4:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms2483

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2483

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