Alternating photoinduced mass transport triggered by light polarization in azobenzene containing sol-gel films

Combined shear-force and near-field optical microscopies are used for real-time monitoring of the formation of photoinduced surface relief gratings in photochromic thin films containing azobenzene derivatives. The correlated optical and topographical images provide evidence that the direction of the photoinduced matter migration is defined by the light polarization pattern and that, for a given light intensity pattern, modulating the polarization between two orthogonal states gives rise to alternating mass transport.