Sara Moujdi

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia | IIT · Center of Nanoscience and Technology

The motion of matter containing photoreactive units, such as azo dyes, occurs when the latter undergo cyclic photoisomerization in gradients of light intensity; an effect referred to by photochemical tweezing. Matter motion is polarization sensitive owing to photo-selection of the azo dyes, and it has been described in detail by the recently develo...

We use the concept of vectorial photochemical tweezing to rationalize experimental observations of surface relief gratings in azo-polymers, e.g., the photochemically induced motion of the polymer in a one-dimensional intensity gradient produced by two-laser beams interference. Vectorial motion of matter occurs when photochemically active, polarizat...

Azobenzene-containing polymers have attracted much attention as photo-responsive materials owing to potential applications in optical data storage and holographic recording. In holography, azobenzene compounds doped in a polymer matrix (guest- host polymer film) or chemically attached to the polymer (co-polymer) are among the most widely used mater...

We use the concept of vectorial photochemical tweezing to rationalize the experimental observations of surface relief gratings in azo-polymers, e.g., the photochemically induced motion of the polymer in a one-dimensional intensity gradient produced by two-laser beam interference. Vectorial motion of matter occurs when photochemically active, polari...

Over the past two decades, surface relief gratings have attracted much interest owing to their potential applications in optical data storage and optical communication and holography. Azobenzene-containing polymerfilms show an interestingbehavior under irradiation with light interference patterns. The inhomogeneous irradiation; e.g. due to the inte...

Photoisomerization induced molecular motion in azo polymers is an area of research that witnessed intensive studies owing to its potential in optical manipulation. In this paper, we give an overview of the theory of matter motion induced by photoisomerization. We show that besides photoisomerization, a gradient of light intensity is necessary to ge...

Holographic storage is one of the most important applications in the field of optics, especially for recording and retrieving data, and information storage by interference patterns in photosensitive materials are no exception in this regard. In this work, we give evidence that holograms recorded by interference of two-coherent laser beams in azo dy...