Imaging Studies of Temperature‐Dependent Photodegradation and Self‐Healing in Air Force 455 Dye‐Doped PMMA

To date, the majority of research on reversible photodegradation in dye‐doped polymers has focused on the anthraquinone dye disperse orange 11 doped into various polymers. In this paper we use imaging to characterize reversible photodegradation in the significantly larger and more complex Air Force 455 (AF455) dye doped into poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). We characterize AF455/PMMA's reversible photodegradation as a function of temperature and intensity and find that it displays significantly more complex dynamics than DO11/PMMA, with both diffusive and non‐diffusive mechanisms playing a role in the observed photodegradation and self‐healing dynamics. These complicated results suggest novel physical process that will require further study to fully elucidate.